Accrelist axes launch of AI retail tech, extends MoU deadline with F&B software firm

CORPORATE accretion services provider Accrelist will no longer launch its artificial intelligence (AI) retail tech solutions at its WE9GO retail store, the Catalist-listed company announced in a bourse filing on Friday.

Instead, Accrelist now claims that it will focus on facial recognition verification services. The firm has renamed its wholly-owned subsidiary, WE9 Pay, to Accrelist A.I. Tech to reflect the change in focus.

In September last year, Accrelist said that it had "soft launched" WE9GO, an unmanned store enabled by AI technology, albeit lacking specifics such as who owns the store or when it would fully launch.

In response to SGX queries, Accrelist later said in an October filing that the WE9GO retail business is owned by a potential customer, China Commodity Shopping Centre, and unrelated to Accrelist's subsidiary WE9 Pay.

Accrelist had also then claimed the store was in soft launch on an invite-only basis, and would fully launch "at a later date".

Separately, in a filing on Friday, Accrelist said that it has extended the deadline for a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) related to the proposed acquisition of Liaoning Mealplus Technology, a developer of software and machinery for the food and beverage industry, with a secondary business of investment.  

On March 7, Accrelist and Liaoning Mealplus signed a third Letter of Extension to move the deadline for the acquisition for a further period of six months to July 13.

Accrelist had earlier announced the non-binding MoU in April 2018, with the potential acquisition of Liaoning Mealplus to be fulfilled with a cash consideration of four million yuan (S$791,000) and the issuance of Accrelist shares amounting to 46 million yuan. The MoU grants Accrelist a period of exclusivity for due diligence.

Shares of Accrelist last traded at S$0.003 on June 4.