No go for Blackgold coal for textile chemical maker Matex

PLANS for Singapore-listed textile specialty chemical maker Matex International to acquire a Hong Kong-based coal-mining company and its coal mines have been scuppered.

Matex will not be going ahead with plans to purchase Blackgold Holdings HongKong, it said in a filing to Singapore Exchange (SGX) on Friday after markets closed.

Parties to the proposed reverse takeover by Matex have not extended the long-stop date of March 31, 2016, and thus it will cease to have further effect.

"Accordingly, the company (Matex) will not be proceeding with the proposed reverse takeover," said Matex.

The announcement puts an end to a proposal that kick-started a year ago.

On April 1 last year, Matex said it had entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement with Australia-listed Blackgold International Holdings.

Matex was looking to buy the Australian company's wholly owned Hong Kong subsidiary, Blackgold Holdings HongKong, for S$475 million, with S$25 million to be paid in cash and the rest through the issuance of new shares.

Blackgold Holdings HongKong owns four underground thermal coal mines in Chongqing, a megacity in south-western China. It is also either operating or developing these mines.

The four mines have "proved and probable" reserves of 100.7 million tonnes, and "measured and indicated" resources of 140.43 million tonnes as at Nov 1, 2013.

Separately, Matex also said on Friday it is still in the process of selecting a continuing sponsor for its proposed transfer to the Catalist, the sponsor-supervised listing platform of SGX. Matex was placed on SGX's minimum trading price watch-list on March 3.

Matex's share prices last traded at 2.6 Singapore cents apiece.