TWO former senior employees of UOB Kay Hian Private Limited (UOBKH) were charged on Wednesday for allegedly lying to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in relation to reports on a then Catalist aspirant. Lan Kang Ming, 38, and Wee Toon Lee, 34, each face three charges of providing MAS with false information in October 2018 in relation to due diligence reports on an unidentified company applying to list on the Catalist board of the Singapore Exchange. MAS said in a media statement on Wednesday that it was performing an onsite inspection of UOBKH between June and August 2018, to assess the latter's controls, policies and procedures in relation to its role as an issue manager for Initial Public Offering (IPOs). During the examination, Lan and Wee were said to have provided different versions of a due diligence report relating to background checks on a company applying to be listed on the Catalist board of the Singapore Exchange. UOBKH had acted as the issue manager
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Andrea Soh
02 August 2014
Building construction and civil engineering company Sino Construction Group, continuing its mine-buying spree, yesterday announced it is acquiring all the coal assets owned by Australia- listed Guildford Coal Ltd for US$25 million plus additional royalty - a price revised upward from its initial offer after discussion with Guildford.
The coal assets, comprising thermal, pulverised coal injection and thermal coal, are said to have an indicated resource of 227 million tonnes, and an upper exploration target of 7.17 billion tonnes of coal.
On completion of the deal, the mainboard-listed firm will issue to Guildford a convertible promissory note, and has the option to redeem the note from Guildford if the volume-weighted average price of Sino shares two days before the maturity date is at least S$0.24. It can convert the principal sum of the notes into new ordinary shares, and allot and issue these to Guildford at S$0.20 a share. Sino will also pay Guildford a royalty of US$0.35 for each tonne of coal sold from the assets, for five years from the start of commercial production.
Guildford will also be appointed as the only manager of the coal assets, and will have a first and last right to be appointed as the contract miner for the assets that move into commercial production, with a separate management fee payable.
The announcement yesterday was made after Sino Construction first made an unsolicited offer to acquire Guildford’s assets in mid-July for US$22.5 million.
The deal is subject to a due diligence exercise on the Australian projects and restructuring, as well as approval from the Singapore Exchange and shareholders of both companies, among others. Either firm may also terminate the agreement if it is not completed within four months of the sale-and-purchase agreement, which the company will make further announcements on.
Besides the Australian assets, Guildford also operates the Baruun Noyon Uul coal mine in Mongolia, which was formally commissioned by the Mongolian government in February allowing operations and sales to start.
Loss-making Sino Construction is undergoing a restructuring exercise, having disposed of various subsidiaries in China, and has also set up a subsidiary to explore business opportunities in the construction sector in Singapore and Malaysia. At the same time, it is trying to transform itself into a mining play.
On the stock market yesterday, Sino Construction Group shares closed unchanged at S$0.27, while Guildford Coal shares 0.1 cent higher at A$0.056.