Asti says newly-appointed valuers unable to sign off on valuation of associate EoCell

WATCH-LISTED semiconductor company Asti Holdings on Friday (Aug 11) said two valuers tasked with determining the valuation of its associate EoCell are unable to finalise and sign off their valuation reports. 

As a result, the group has prepared its own assessment of the recoverable amount of investment in EoCell, which its auditor, Ernst & Young, will need to review before finalising the audited financial statement for FY2021. 

This was in response to several queries raised by the Singapore Exchange (SGX) on the company’s delayed audit for FY2021, and its overdue annual general meeting (AGM). 

In a bourse filing, Asti said the first valuer had cited too many uncertainties that were involved in EoCell, including its expected financial returns, and some of these uncertainties can have substantial impact on the associate’s valuation. 

The second valuer, on the other hand, said they were unable to finalise EoCell’s valuation based on “the fact pattern surrounding the investment” in the associate. 

The two valuers were appointed in June to help facilitate and expedite a potential exit offer from a consortium. 

Addressing SGX’s queries on the company’s non-binding letter of intent (LOI) for the exit offer, Asti said the potential offeror is able to accept a modified audit opinion for FY2021 but not for FY2022. 

The offeror is also agreeable to extending the deadline for the delivery of Asti’s audited FY2021 results by Aug 15, it said. Should the results be delivered by then, the company intends to hold its AGM on Aug 31. 

In the meantime, the company has made necessary arrangements on the venue and mailing of the AGM notice, which will be dated Aug 16, said Asti.  

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“Non-fulfilment of the conditions of the LOI may result in the termination of the exit offer unless the conditions are waived or amended,” it added.

On its FY2022 results, Asti highlighted that “all necessary steps” have been taken to appoint new auditors. The company is currently onboarding them and an appendix on their appointment will be circulated together with the notices, it said. 

Asti noted that the potential offeror has also received queries from the Securities Industry Council (SIC) on its application, and is working through these with the council. “At this point, the potential offeror is not able to give an indication on when the potential offeror may expect to receive a reply from the SIC,” it said. 

The deadline as per the LOI to hold the FY2022 AGM is Sep 30. Asti’s board has sought to push the deadline further back to Oct 31.