AusGroup ordered to wind up; MOU to restructure company terminated

MAINBOARD-listed AusGroup has been ordered by the Singapore High Court to wind up, the company said in a bourse filing on Tuesday (Jul 18).

The court has also ordered that it be discharged from judicial management and for the joint and several judicial managers to be released from liability, pursuant to the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018.

Tan Wei Cheong, Matthew Stuart Becker and Lim Loo Khoon of Deloitte & Touche will be appointed as the joint and several liquidators of the company.

AusGroup had first applied to the court to be placed under judicial management last November. In May, it applied to the court to be wound up, saying that it was unable to pay its debts.

On Tuesday, the company’s entry into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Arion Agrophotovoltaic was automatically terminated and ceased to be binding.

AusGroup had entered into an MOU with Arion, a manufacturer of photovoltaic solar panels, on Jun 8 to explore the restructuring of the company. This was to have taken place by way of a transfer of the company’s listing status to Arion, or to a new Singapore company directly or indirectly holding Arion’s business.

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However, AusGroup said on Tuesday that the MOU was terminated on the basis that no definitive agreements had been executed between AusGroup and Arion by the long-stop date, which was Jul 18.

The company added that it will make further announcements when there are material developments.

Shares of AusGroup have been suspended since Nov 10, 2022, following a trading halt called on Nov 7. The stock last traded at S$0.009.