Aspen says no further developments with Honeywell; glovemaking unit in talks to sell production capacity

ASPEN (Group) Holdings' glove-making unit has been in "active discussion" with other potential buyers for the off-take of its entire Phase 1(b) production capacity, part of which was originally meant to be supplied to Honeywell International.

Aspen was responding to queries from the Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo) on Friday evening. SGX RegCo had asked the firm provide an update on the deal with Honeywell, given that no further disclosures had been made since the announcement that the US$210 million supply agreement with Honeywell has not been "consummated".

In response, Aspen said that an immediate update on the status of the agreement with Honeywell was not provided because Aspen Glove had intended to "engage in a discussion with Honeywell after a cooling-off period to explore the possibility of entering into an agreement".

But given that there are no further developments with Honeywell, Aspen Glove has been in discussions with other parties for the sale, said Aspen.

Aspen had on April 13 announced that Aspen Glove had clinched a US$210 million gloves supply order from Honeywell. It subsequently retracted the announcement on April 24 after Honeywell did not consummate the agreement by the effective date, describing it as a "communication oversight between the parties".

In response to queries on whether the resignations of Aspen's divisional director of corporate Rowena Radha Nair and Aspen Glove's chief operating officer Calvin Ng are related to the Honeywell deal, Aspen said that the two resigned to pursue other career opportunities and to pursue other interests, respectively.

Aspen also confirmed that the resignations are not in any way connected to the development between Aspen Glove and Honeywell.

Shares of Aspen ended Friday flat at 20.5 Singapore cents.