AEM appoints Russell Tham as non-executive and non-independent director

RUSSELL Tham, Temasek's joint head of enterprise development group, as well as joint head of strategic development, has been appointed as AEM Holdings' non-executive and non-independent director, the company announced in a bourse filing on Tuesday.

The board of directors had reviewed and considered Mr Tham's capabilities, qualifications, experience and commitment to the company and strongly believe that he will be able to provide valuable insights and contribute effectively to the company, said AEM.

AEM had in early August said that Mr Tham had been nominated to the company's board of directors. It concurrently announced the proposed private placement of 26.8 million ordinary shares to an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Temasek, at an issue price of S$3.8477 per share.

The placement was completed on Tuesday, bringing AEM's total share capital to 308.8 million shares worth S$170.4 million from 282 million shares valued at S$67.3 million as at Aug 6, 2021.

The subscription shares are expected to be listed and quoted on the mainboard on or about Sept 2.

Proceeds from the new share issuance, which will go towards financing the group's business expansion, including organic expansion as well as mergers and acquisitions.

Prior to joining Temasek in May 2020, Mr Tham spent two years at mainboard-listed ST Engineering and 24 years at American corporation Applied Materials, where he held various regional and global leadership positions across a number of core business functions.

He is also a representative of Temasek's subsidiary Venezio Investments, which is a substantial shareholder of AEM.

Mr Tham will attend relevant training on the roles and responsibilities of director of a listed issuer on the Singapore Exchange, said AEM.

Shares of AEM ended Tuesday at S$4.14, up S$0.14 or 3.5 per cent.