Controlling shareholder Rawabi voices support for Vallianz

A CONTROLLING shareholder of Catalist-listed Vallianz sought to inject confidence in the offshore services provider after recent announcements by Vallianz's other major shareholder Swiber Holdings.

Vallianz, in a filing to the Singapore Exchange on Friday night, said that Saudi Arabian shareholder Rawabi Holding has reaffirmed its "strong commitment" to Vallianz and confidence in the group's business prospects.

Rawabi owns an 18.7 per cent equity stake in Vallianz. It is also a strategic joint venture partner of the Vallianz group's Middle East business operations through Rawabi Vallianz Offshore Services (RVOS).

Said Sheikh Abdulaziz AlTurki, group chairman of Rawabi and chairman of RVOS: "As a controlling shareholder and business partner of Vallianz, Rawabi would like to express our confidence in the group's business prospects . . . Vallianz has the full backing of Rawabi and by working together, I am positive that we can continue making further progress to bring the group to the next level."

This comes after recent announcements by Swiber that took the offshore and marine sector by surprise.

Swiber, which has 25.15 per cent stake in Vallianz, filed a petition to wind up and liquidate itself on Thursday after facing US$25.9 million of demands from creditors.

Just a day earlier on Wednesday, Vallianz announced that its non-executive director and chairman, Raymond Kim Goh, 48, has resigned due to "health reasons". Mr Goh is also the executive chairman and founder of Swiber Holdings.

On Thursday after Swiber made its announcement, shares of Vallianz hit a day's low of 1.6 Singapore cents barely an hour after markets opened on the same day, before rising to a high of 2.5 cents in the afternoon. The stock finished 1.5 cents or nearly 42 per cent lower at 2.1 cents on Thursday.

It inched back up on Friday, increasing by 4.76 per cent or 0.1 cents, to close at 2.2 cents.