HG Metal calls Oct 25 vote on capital reduction, sale of BRC Asia stake

HG Metal has called an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on Oct 25, 2017 to seek shareholder approval for an asset sale and capital reduction exercise.

Shareholders of HG Metal, a steel distributor, will vote on plans to pay out a cash distribution of 10.5 Singapore cents per share and to write off S$68.2 million of accumulated losses. Cash for the distribution is expected to come from a proposed sale of HG Metal's 23 per cent stake in steel mesh maker BRC Asia for S$39 million, which HG Metal shareholders will also vote on.

The move comes after activist fund Quarz Capital Management had earlier urged the firm to consider selling its stake in BRC Asia, arguing that the stake provided no value to HG Metal's operations.