Cordlife’s Teo Tong Kooi resigns as chairman; Zhai Lingyun steps up

EMBATTLED cord-blood bank Cordlife Group announced on Wednesday (Jan 8) that Zhai Lingyun, the company’s non-independent non-executive director, has been appointed as its new chairman. 

This follows the resignation of Teo Tong Kooi, who stepped down from the position of chairman with immediate effect on Tuesday to “focus on other commitments”, the group said in a bourse filing. 

Teo, who became chairman on May 23, 2024, will remain on the board as an independent director. He will also retain his roles as the chairman of the nominating committee and the remuneration committee, as well as a member of the audit and risk committee. 

Zhai will also continue to hold his post as the group’s non-independent non-executive director, in addition to his new role. 

The group said the decision to appoint Zhai as chairman was made after its board of directors took into consideration the nominating committee’s recommendation and reviewed his qualifications and work experience. 

Zhai was appointed as non-independent non-executive director in December 2019 and was re-elected in April 2023. 

Prior to joining Cordlife, he was vice-chairman and general manager of Anhui Xinhua Media, a China-based company engaged in publishing, distribution and sales of books, audio-visual products and teaching materials, from 2015 to 2018. 

He is also presently the chairman of two subsidiaries of Cordlife’s substantial shareholder, Nanjing Xinjiekou Department Store – of which he was also the chairman until 2024. 

Nanjing Xinjiekou was one of the parties involved in Cordlife’s boardroom shakeup in March last year, where two of its substantial shareholders separately called for the removal and appointment of several company directors amid the scandal surrounding its mishandling of cord blood units.

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Its nominee Phillip Securities on Mar 14, 2024, had called for the removal of several board directors and the appointment of three individuals to the board – one of whom was Teo. Days later on Mar 18, another substantial shareholder TransGlobal Real Estate Group requisitioned the rejection of Phillip Securities’ proposals and the removal of two non-independent non-executive directors.

Teo and the two other individuals proposed by Phillip Securities were elected to the board in May 2024.

Zhai was arrested on Jul 25, 2024, in connection with investigations into Cordlife’s alleged breach of disclosure obligations, before being released on bail. He has not been charged or convicted of any offence. 

At that time, Cordlife said its board viewed it in the company’s interest for Zhai to remain on the board as he was “overseeing and providing guidance” on investigations addressing the lapses identified by the Ministry of Health – which in November 2023, discovered that Cordlife had inappropriately stored cord-blood storage tanks at temperatures above acceptable limits.

Following this, the group was suspended from collecting, testing, processing and/or storing new cord blood and human tissues for six months, but was subsequently allowed to resume some cord-blood banking services in a “controlled manner” from September 2024.

In its latest earnings update, the group was in the red with a S$1.6 million net loss for its third quarter ended September 2024.

Shares of Cordlife closed flat at S$0.15 on Wednesday.