EPICENTRE Holdings, which is currently under judicial management, has terminated an agreement in which it would transfer its Catalist listing to an entity linked to South Korean steelmaker Kossen.

Last year, Epicentre signed an agreement on July 13 with Kossen - which is listed in South Korea - and Tardis Capital, to transfer its listing for S$3 million to an unnamed entity that will be incorporated in Singapore.

But in a bourse filing on Thursday, Epicentre's judicial managers said Kossen and Tardis Capital - a mergers-and-acquisitions advisory firm that had introduced Kossen to Epicentre - have not provided any updates on obtaining pre-clearance for the transaction from the Singapore Exchange since last October.

In addition, Kossen has not complied with its obligations under the implementation agreement, the judicial managers said.

The judicial managers added that they sent "multiple follow-up letters and e-mails" on the matter, including a letter to seek a waiver of the exclusivity clause in the implementation agreement so that Epicentre could explore other potential opportunities, to which no response was received.

Hence, the judicial managers issued a notice to Kossen on Feb 17 to terminate the agreement. They said that they have also obtained an extension of the judicial management order until April 6 to conduct an investor search process, to "salvage some recovery" for the creditors.

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This is not the first time Kossen has surfaced in a potential transfer-of-listing status. Last year, 8Telecom inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the steelmaker to transfer its listing status to BiogenicsKorea, a firm in which Kossen is a key shareholder. Tardis Capital was also the introducer for that proposed transaction, and the adviser to both Korean firms.

But the MOU lapsed as the parties did not sign an implementation agreement, The Business Times had reported.

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