Chaswood scraps plans to acquire battery firm after 'major differences and disagreements'

CHASWOOD Resources Holdings 5TW : 5TW 0%has cancelled plans to acquire battery maker 3DOM (Singapore) Pte Ltd (3PL) via a reverse takeover (RTO) of at least US$1 billion, citing "major differences and disagreements" in approach to the RTO processes and the way it should proceed.

In a late-night filing on Monday (Nov 15), the Catalist-listed Malaysian restaurant operator said both parties had mutually agreed to terminate the transaction after experiencing "significant differences in perspective and approaches" regarding how the deal should be implemented.

It added that termination of its acquisition plan would facilitate the group in reviewing other potential assets or businesses for acquisition.

Chaswood's plans to acquire Japan-based 3DOM Inc's wholly-owned subsidiary 3PL were first announced on Aug 22. The proposed transaction would have seen Chaswood buy 3PL for 70 per cent of the latter's valuation, which Chaswood intended to fund by issuing new shares at US$0.028 apiece.

Chaswood, whose shares have been suspended since June 2018, does not expect any financial impact as a result of the termination. This comes as 3DOM has agreed to pay for all professional costs incurred by the group in relation to the proposed acquisition.

The group however expects a delay in plans to resume trading, as its planned acquisition was undertaken to facilitate the resumption.

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"To rebuild shareholder value, the company has identified another potential business to be injected into the group," said Chaswood, which added it is in the midst of discussions for the new acquisition.

According to the group, the unnamed business will place it in a position to expand into new business areas and grow revenues - as well as facilitate its attempts to build a profitable recurrent business and operate as a going concern in the long term.

"After the completion of the deed of termination with the vendors (3DOM), a revised timeline for (the) trading resumption plan shall be announced for the benefit and interest of (our) shareholders."

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