Datapulse Technology shareholder requisitions EGM to oust five directors
Chong Xin Wei
MAINBOARD-listed Datapulse Technology has received a requisition notice from shareholder and board director Ang Kong Meng to convene an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to pass eight resolutions, it said on Thursday (Jun 22).
The resolutions seek to remove five fellow board members and appoint two others to the board.
The first resolution is to remove board chairman Aw Cheok Huat as the company’s director, from the date of the EGM.
The second, third and fourth resolutions seek to remove Datapulse directors Choong Chee Peng Bert, Yeung Koon Sang and Lau Yan Wai from their posts, also from the date of the EGM.
Ang also requested for Yee Chia Hsing to be removed as the company’s director, but to remain as its chief executive.
He wants the board to appoint Hor Siew Fu, independent director and chairman of the audit committee at water-treatment company Memiontec; and Perry Yuen, mergers and acquisitions partner at law firm Shook Lin & Bok, as directors of the company, from the date of the EGM.
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Another resolution includes removing directors who may have been appointed between the date of the requisition notice and the date of the EGM.
In his letter, Ang said he was “concerned about the management” of the company and “the direction the leadership is taking”. Datapulse has accumulated losses in its last three financial years and was placed on the Singapore Exchange Regulation watch list on Jun 6.
In its response to the notice, Datapulse’s board noted that the company’s losses and inclusion in the watch list were mainly due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which “greatly affected” the global hospitality industry.
It added that the company’s management began a review of current operations in May; it was also announced on Jun 14 that a financial adviser will be appointed to carry out a strategic review.
Ang flagged concerns about the appropriateness of Datapulse’s current board size as another reason for the requisition notice.
Addressing the matter, the board said it had only five members before it appointed Ang as the company’s non-independent non-executive director. Ang, who holds 23.7 per cent direct and deemed interest in Datapulse, had requested for a board seat.
To ensure that the board comprises a majority of independent directors, Datapulse had to appoint an additional independent non-executive director following Ang’s inclusion in the board. As a result, the company’s board size went from five to seven.
Datapulse’s board has noted that Ang has not said how he and his proposed new board members would address the concerns he raised.
Separately, on Jun 16, Ang requisitioned Catalist-listed ICP to convene an EGM to remove three board directors and appoint Hor as a director. Ang had also alleged related-party transactions between ICP and Datapulse, noting that ICP executive director Aw Ming-Yao Marcus is the son of Datapulse chairman Aw – a substantial shareholder of ICP.
Notwithstanding its views, Datapulse’s board said it will convene an EGM in due course to explain the company’s strategy and direction, and allow shareholders to vote on the requisitioned resolutions.
In 2017, Datapulse acquired a company that Ang was a vendor of, the day after four new directors were appointed. The acquisition was proposed without any due diligence done, and was based on a valuation provided by Ang.
It later emerged that one of the new directors – then chief executive Kee Swee Ann – had previously worked for Ang.
Datapulse inked a deal to sell the company just a year later. In that time, Datapulse underwent several leadership changes.
Shares of Datapulse Technology were trading up 1.1 per cent or S$0.001 at S$0.09 as at 9.27 am on Thursday.
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