Plan is for the transfer of its listing status to the Singapore subsidiary of HK-based AVIC Kairong

 

 

 

EMBATTLED Sino-Environment has put in place a new plan which could clear itself of all outstanding debt and allow its local listing to be transferred to another firm.

 

The company, which has been placed under judicial management since June last year, said in a regulatory filing that it has signed an 'implementation agreement' with Hong Kong-based AVIC Kairong.

This agreement will set the wheels in motion for its listing status to be transferred to the latter's Singapore subsidiary.

AVIC Kairong is a wholly owned subsidiary of CATIC Beijing, a state-own conglomerate with business interests across a myriad of sectors including shipbuilding, engineering, as well as electronics imports and exports.

It has set up a Singapore unit and plans to list the new subsidiary - AVIC Singapore - on the SGX by taking over Sino-Environment's listing here. The local unit will focus mainly on ship trading and shipbuilding.

Under the plan, AVIC Singapore will issue $6 million worth of consideration shares to Sino-Environment's creditors and shareholders at $0.50 per share to help clear all its debt.

If AVIC Singapore's actual placement price on its stock market debut is less than $0.50 per share, the company will make up the shortfall by issuing additional shares. However, if the reverse is true, a proportionate amount of the consideration shares will be transferred back to AVIC Singapore's parent, AVIC Kairong, according to the Sino-Environment statement.

The SGX has given Sino-Environment up till March 31 to submit its proposal for resuming trading and a three-month buffer thereafter to implement the plan.

In a separate announcement, Sino-Environment said that it has appointed Hong Kong firm HLM Consulting to help regain control and recover its assets in the Chinese mainland.

Sino-Environment has some $14 million with the Shanghai branch of Xiamen International Bank which it is trying to repatriate back to a Singapore bank account.

The company's woes started last June after a special audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers turned up some $85 million worth of questionable deals that were made without board approval and authorisation.