Duo to maintain 34% stake after private equity takeover of Stratech

Singapore

THE CURRENT husband-and-wife team that controls The Stratech Group will convert more of the company's debt owed to them into equity than previously announced, the company said in a filing on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) on Thursday evening.

The higher debt conversion amount will allow executive chairman David Chew and executive director and chief corporate officer Leong Sook Ching to retain their 34 per cent shareholding even after a proposed US$20 million placement by private equity firm Boulevard Capital Partners.

Mr Chew and Ms Leong will convert about S$15.4 million of current and future loans owed to them by Stratech into 233.4 million new Stratech shares at 6.6 Singapore cents per share, the surveillance technology company said.

In an earlier announcement on Thursday morning, Stratech had said that the couple would convert only S$8.75 million of debt owed to them into 132.58 million new Stratech shares at 6.6 Singapore cents per share.

For Boulevard, however, the larger debt conversion amount will mean that its eventual stake in Stratech will now be 51 per cent instead of the 58.4 per cent previously announced.

Boulevard's placement shares are also priced at 6.6 Singapore cents. Trading in Stratech shares remains suspended.