AEM's non-exec, non-independent director redesignated to lead ID as stake gets 'diluted to below 5%'

AEM HOLDINGS (AEM) awx on Jan 1 (Saturday) announced that it has recommended the redesignation of non-executive and non-independent director James Toh, 57, to lead independent director with effect from Jan 1, as his stake in the company has been diluted to below 5 per cent, as well as his "independence".

To recap, on Aug 31, AEM announced the completion of the allotment of 26.8 million shares to Venezio Investments, giving Venezio a stake of 8.68 per cent in the company. This has diluted the stakes of other shareholders such as Toh.

Toh is a co-founder and anchor investor of private equity firm Novo Tellus's PE Fund 1 and Fund 2 - which is focused on buyouts of mid-cap technology industrial companies.

He has a direct interest of 11 million shares, and a deemed interest of 1.2 million shares in AEM, said the bourse filing. He has been on the board of AEM since 2018.

The announcement of Toh's redesignation comes as lead independent director Adrian Chan stepped down from the board on Dec 31, 2021 to "facilitate board renewal" after a total of more than 9 years as an independent director of AEM. He was appointed as the lead independent director on Oct 1, 2017.

With his resignation, the 57-year-old also ceased to be the chairman of the nominating committee, as well as a member of the audit and risk management committee and remuneration committee. Chan holds some 85,000 shares of AEM, said the filing.

Separately, AEM announced the resignation of another independent director Basil Chan on Dec 31, 2021. The 70-year-old has also been with the company for more than 9 years and has decided to step down to "facilitate board renewal".

As at his resignation, Basil Chan also ceased to be chairman of the audit and risk management committee and remuneration committee, as well as a member of the nominating committee.

Shares of AEM closed on Friday at S$5.26, up 0.2 per cent or S$0.01.