Axington board says rights issue to proceed as planned

THE two-man board of Axington Inc said on Thursday that a planned rights issue announced on Aug 21 will proceed as planned, despite the recent controversy that resulted in five directors quitting the board.

Axington shares have been voluntarily suspended since Aug 31, "pending the release of announcements in relation to strategic changes to be made in the business direction of the company".

Since then, Axington's two remaining directors, both of whom are independent, have reached out to controlling shareholders and cousins Nelson Loh and Terence Loh to seek clarity on the company's direction.

The two directors, Low Junrui and Roberto Dona, said on Thursday: "The board wishes to update that the controlling shareholders of the company have communicated to the board that they are still exploring and evaluating strategic options that have been presented to them."

Once they have more clarity, the board will assess the impact and changes, if any, on the proposed resolutions and the postponed extraordinary general meeting, the board added.

The Loh cousins co-founded the Bellagraph Nova Group (BN Group) with Evangeline Shen Che, who was appointed to Axington's board in July after the Lohs bought it over. The trio came under the spotlight after BN Group admitted to doctoring images of them with former US president Barack Obama, on top of making claims about the size of their business dealings.

BN Group and its backers have also drawn intense scrutiny since news broke that the Singapore-registered group was bidding for English Premier League club Newcastle United.