Advance SCT ropes in consultant as new investor to revive fortune

MAINBOARD-listed Advance SCT has roped in BT Consulting & Management to study the various options to resolve its outstanding debt issues and undertake a strategic business review.

Advance SCT, a supplier of copper-based products which had applied to the Singapore High Court in February to enter into a scheme of arrangement to repay its debt, said that it entered into a binding heads of agreement (HoA) on Monday. Apart from looking at various options to resolve its debt, the collaboraton will also involve exploring the acquisitions of new assets and undertakings that are earnings and yield accretive for Advance SCT. The court has yet to sanction the scheme.

BT Consulting has agreed to provide up to S$8 million (or its equivalent in any other foreign currency) of funding in cash to the company, which has been on the SGX watch-list since March 4, 2015. It has given a firm commitment to subscribe up to S$3 million of new Advance SCT shares, and the remaining S$5 million for the subscription of new convertible securities.

The fund raising exercise is subject to, among other things, shareholders' approval and the lifting of trading suspension of Advance SCT shares on the Singapore Exchange.

For the first quarter ended March 31, 2016, Advance SCT reported deeper losses of S$1.34 million, compared with S$942,000 the previous year. Revenue tumbled to S$1.43 million, from S$12.90 million, following a major revamp with resulted in a downsized organisation with a lower debt level.

By the end of March 2016, Advance SCT has S$400,00 in cash and cash equivalent, compared to S$5.32 million a year ago.