Axington requests voluntary trading suspension pending announcement

CATALIST-LISTED Axington Inc on Monday requested a voluntary suspension of the trading of its shares pending an announcement on "strategic changes to be made in the business direction of the company".

Axington first requested a trading halt on Wednesday morning pending the announcement. The Business Times understands that the announcement is likely to be in relation to Evangeline Shen, also known as Shen Che, who is Axington's non-independent non-executive chairman.

The Singapore Exchange's (SGX) regulatory arm SGX RegCo last Tuesday said it had "engaged" Novus Corporate Finance, the continuing sponsor of Axington, over how it has assessed the "experience, expertise, character and integrity" of Ms Shen.

The 32-year-old was appointed to Axington's board on July 14 this year following the takeover of the firm by Singaporean cousins Nelson Loh and Terence Loh. She co-founded Bellagraph Nova Group (BN Group) with the duo after a merger of the Lohs' Dorr Group and Bellagraph in June this year.

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

This was followed by a series of confounding events that included the firm admitting it had doctored photographs that showed former US president Barack Obama in marketing materials used to publicise the newly formed group.

Axington on Friday postponed an extraordinary general meeting to seek votes around a proposed name change to NETX, and a change of core business to focus on artificial intelligence, robotics and healthcare.

In its statement on Friday, Axington's board said: "In light of recent developments in the media, the board is of the view that it requires more time to conduct an internal assessment of the circumstances and the strategic plans of the company moving forward."

Earlier in July, BN Group, in a press statement, claimed NETX "was born" as a result of a "historic" closed-door meeting that the Lohs and Ms Shen had with Mr Obama last December to discuss how technology will bring about the next industrial revolution.

BN Group withdrew the statement last week.

Axington shares last traded on Tuesday at 19 Singapore cents.