Shanghai-listed Nanjing Xinjiekou owns a 20.3 per cent stake in Cordlife as at Mar 20, 2023

 

TROUBLED cord-blood bank Cordlife Group : P8A +3.28% reiterated on Wednesday (Apr 24) that its substantial shareholder Nanjing Xinjiekou is still interested in making a potential offer to buy over Cordlife shares that it does not already own, even though it has not reached a firm decision yet.

 

According to Cordlife&rsquo s annual report, Nanjing Xinjiekou &ndash which is listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange &ndash owns a 20.3 per cent stake in Cordlife as at Mar 20, 2023.

 

In a bourse filing released on Wednesday, Cordlife said it received a third letter from SAC Capital &ndash on behalf of Nanjing Xinjiekou &ndash on Apr 23, regarding an update on the latter&rsquo s potential offer to buy over Cordlife&rsquo s remaining shares.

 

The cord-blood bank had previously received two letters dated Apr 22 from SAC Capital, stating that Nanjing Xinjiekou was reviewing its shareholding in Cordlife and considering making an offer to increase its shareholding.

 

Based on the most recent third letter, Cordlife said that both SAC Capital and Nanjing Xinjiekou have been &ldquo monitoring and evaluating the recent developments&rdquo relating to Cordlife, of which &ldquo are material to Nanjing Xinjiekou consideration of the potential offer&rdquo .

 

Cordlife is currently embroiled in a shareholder dispute, with two substantial shareholders separately requisitioning to remove directors from its board.

 

This comes in the wake of findings that more than 2,000 cord blood units were damaged when they were exposed to suboptimal temperatures, in one of the biggest scandals to hit the industry.

 

On Apr 17, Cordlife announced plans to raise S$8.2 million by issuing a total of 51.2 million new ordinary shares at S$0.16 apiece. A group of Cordlife&rsquo s directors later filed an injunction application before the High Court of Singapore to restrain the company from issuing new shares.

 

Cordlife said as at Apr 23, Nanjing Xinjiekou was &ldquo still interested&rdquo in making the potential offer and is in discussions with SAC Capital concerning the offer&rsquo s terms. Nanjing Xinjiekou was also taking into account Cordlife&rsquo s recent developments and their impact on the company&rsquo s share price.

 

However, no firm decision had been reached by Nanjing Xinjiekou as to whether it would go through with the potential offer, said Cordlife, adding that &ldquo there is no certainty or assurance that any such offer will be made&rdquo .

 

The company further stressed that nothing in the third letter from SAC Capital shall be construed as Nanjing Xinjiekou having a firm intention to make an offer for Cordlife&rsquo s shares.

 

&ldquo Nanjing Xinjiekou will inform the company of any material update on the foregoing,&rdquo it said.

Claimants comprise controlling shareholder Nanjing Xinjiekou Department Store, non-independent non-executive directors Zhai Lingyun and Chen Xiaoling

 

A GROUP of Cordlife&rsquo s directors has filed an injunction application before the High Court of Singapore to restrain the company from issuing new shares.

 

Pending hearing this application, an interim injunction was granted by the High Court on Friday (Apr 19), said the company on Monday.

 

The claimants comprise a controlling shareholder Nanjing Xinjiekou Department Store, as well as non-independent non-executive directors Zhai Lingyun and Chen Xiaoling.

 

The application is against the company, its acting chairman Ho Choon Hou, independent directors Yeo Hwee Tiong and Titus Cheong, non-independent non-executive directors Yiu Ming Yiu and Chow Wai Leong, as well as group chief executive officer Ivan Yiu (Yiu Pang Fai), from engaging in conduction that constitute a contravention of Section 157 of the Companies Act 1967. The section outlines duty and liability of company officers.

 

Both Zhai and Chen, based overseas, expressed reservations about Ivan Yiu&rsquo s appointment as new group CEO and abstained from the vote in February.

 

Amid investigations by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD), the duo postponed interviews with CAD to May 21, while director Yiu Ming Yiu was arrested and released on bail after getting called for a CAD interview in early April. This was after four directors and former group CEO Tan Poh Lan were arrested by CAD and released on bail in March. 

 

The troubled cord-blood bank announced on Apr 17 its proposal to raise S$8.2 million by issuing some 51.2 million new ordinary shares at S$0.16 apiece.

 

Based on the Apr 17 announcement, it has entered into two separate subscription agreements with Charming Global Enterprises (CGE) and Darren Ng, a high-net-worth individual based in Singapore. Through respective private placements, CGE will subscribe for 44.5 million of the new shares for S$7.1 million, while Ng will purchase 6.7 million shares for S$1.1 million.

 

Both will collectively hold about 16.6 per cent of Cordlife&rsquo s enlarged capital post the new share placement, which will result in the company&rsquo s share base increasing to 307.5 million from 256.3 million currently pursuant to the private placement.

Cordlife calls for trading halt after shares sink to all-time low, pending announcement

 

SHARES of troubled private cord-blood bank Cordlife Group : P8A -15.17% fell 15.2 per cent before it requested a trading halt at 2.30 pm on Friday (Apr 19), pending the release of an announcement.

 

As at 1.59 pm, the counter was trading down S$0.022 at S$0.123, with 125,200 shares changing hands, and registering an all-time low since its listing in 2012.

 

The most recent update from the group came on Wednesday, as it proposed to raise S$8.2 million by issuing a total of 51.2 million new ordinary shares at S$0.16 apiece.

 

Later that day, it filed a police report against some of its former employees, following the preliminary findings of an internal investigation conducted by an external consultant.

 

On Apr 8, Cordlife said it found that 5,300 cord-blood units stored in one of the six tested tanks and one dry shipper were at high-risk of being damaged by the temperature excursions. It then moved to offer annual fee refunds and waivers of subsequent fees for customers whose cord-blood units were stored in this tank and dry shipper.

 

While preliminary testing has shown that the other five tanks &ndash which contain around 13,700 cord-blood units &ndash are considered low-risk, Cordlife said it will send 200 samples from these tanks for testing, which could take up to a year to complete.