Midas Holdings noteholders ask to redeem US$30 million; company seeking extension

TROUBLED railway-parts maker Midas Holdings has received requests from noteholders who want to redeem a total of US$30 million as well as unpaid coupons.

The company has to pay the noteholders - CRRC Hongkong Capital Management and CRRC (Hong Kong) - within seven days of their requests, which came in on April 3 and April 4 respectively.

The two noteholders each hold US$15 million of the notes.

The company said in an exchange filing on Thursday that it will contact the noteholders to seek an extension if possible.

This comes after the Singapore Exchange (SGX) issued Midas with a notice of compliance on Monday, demanding the immediate resignation of two of its top executives.

The bourse regulator said in the notice that Midas executive chairman Chen Wei Ping cannot be appointed as a director or executive officer in any listed company for the next three years, and that Ma Ming Zhang, the legal representative of Midas unit Luoyang Midas, cannot be appointed an executive officer in any listed company for the next three years.

Last week, the company's audit committee had lodged a police report with Singapore's Commercial Affairs Department over a possible breach of securities laws and other offences linked to irregularities in the group's operations in China.

Trading in the company's stock has been suspended since early February.

On Wednesday, Midas Holdings appointed Chan Soo Sen as its new non-executive chairman and re-designated two independent non-executive directors Tong Din Eu and Xu Wei Dong as executive directors. The changes took effect on April 3.

Mr Chan, a former minister of state, has been Midas's independent non-executive director since June 29, 2006. He has also served in a number of government ministries, including the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports.

Mr Tong has been an independent non-executive director since Aug 8, 2011, and lead independent director since Nov 14, 2013. He is also the independent non-executive director of Roxy-Pacific Holdings.

Dr Xu, a professor and a PhD supervisor of the School of Law, Jilin University in China, has been the company's independent non-executive director since March 17, 2010.