No Signboard suspends CEO Sam Lim amid price rigging charges; seeks to block EGM
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No Signboard CEO Sam Lim Yong Sim was charged last month with share price rigging offences.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Yong Jun Yuan
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SINGAPORE - Restaurant operator No Signboard Holdings’ board has put chief executive Sam Lim Yong Sim on a leave of absence from Tuesday, pending the resolution of the proceedings related to the charges against him.
In a bourse filing on Tuesday, the board said he will remain as a director during his suspension.
Non-executive director Lim Teck-Ean will be redesignated as an executive director and made interim CEO.
“The immediate focus of Lim Teck-Ean and the board will be to obtain SGX-ST’s approval for the resumption of trading of the company’s shares,” the board said, adding that it does not expect Sam Lim’s suspension to materially affect the group’s existing business operations and its ability to resume trading of the firm’s shares.
On July 27, Sam Lim was charged with share price rigging offences under the Securities and Futures Act.
Furthermore, the board said it has not convened the extraordinary general meeting that was requisitioned by its controlling shareholder, GuGong.
GuGong is controlled by Sam Lim, who is also a joint signatory of a number of No Signboard’s operational bank accounts.
Gazelle Ventures, an entity that had offered rescue financing to No Signboard, has commenced an originating application in the High Court for an injunction to prevent Sam Lim, GuGong and the company from taking steps to pass resolutions within the notice of requisition.
The resolutions aim to remove at least five of No Signboard’s directors and appoint new ones in their places.
The first case conference relating to the application has been fixed for Aug 29, the board added.
Business resumes at Little Sheep outlet
In the same bourse filing, the board said No Signboard has agreed on a payment schedule with Little Sheep Hong Kong Company and got approval to continue operating its Little Sheep Hotpot outlet at Orchard Gateway. This comes after hotpot chain Little Sheep terminated its franchise agreement with No Signboard, as the latter had failed to open the required number of outlets under the agreement.
The company also had an outstanding payment of a two-month security deposit to its landlord at Orchard Gateway.
Still, the board reiterated that the group intends to undergo a rebranding exercise, which could involve the renaming of existing brands when trading of the company’s shares resumes.
Shares of the company have been suspended since Jan 24, 2022.
No Signboard said it has also been searching for acquisition targets, and is in the final stages of discussions to acquire a food and beverage business. THE BUSINESS TIMES
Correction note: This article has been updated to reflect that it is Gazelle Ventures, not the board of No Signboard Holdings, that has commenced legal action to prevent an EGM.
