Pavillon unit bank accounts frozen following court order

PAVILLON Financial Leasing, a unit of mainboard-listed Pavillon Holdings, had its bank accounts frozen with effect from Monday (Aug 1), following a court order requested by the main contractor of Pavillon’s automotive logistics hub in Tianjin, China.

Pavillon Financial Leasing, together with Fengchi IOT Management, another subsidiary of Pavillon Holdings, had previously received a letter of demand for the repayment of 152.9 million yuan (S$31.6 million) in construction costs from the main contractor.

Fengchi IOT Management’s bank accounts have been frozen from Jul 29.

In a regulatory filing on Monday, Pavillon – previously known as Thai Village - said it was currently negotiating with the main contractor and “wishes to reiterate the necessity” of its proposed subscription with New Development Hotel Management, a hotel management and investing holding company owned by Shanghai businessman Ding Furu. Ding is also a shareholder of Fengchi IOT Management.

Pavillon had earlier on entered into a subscription agreement with New Development Hotel Management on Mar 10, which would see New Development Hotel Management subscribe for RMB200 million (S$42.9 million) worth of new ordinary shares in Pavillon.

The amount raised would be used to fund the operations of Fengchi IOT Management, which includes but is “not limited to the payment of the final outstanding amounts due to the main contractor under the construction loan.”

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In response to questions received from shareholders prior to the company’s extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on Aug 5 2022, Pavillon said in another regulatory filing on Monday that Ding had expressed interest in the company’s food and beverage operations and subsequently become a franchisee of Thai Village in 2002. The franchise ended in 2017.

Ding became a shareholder in Pavillon in Jul 2021, the company said. It added that it was “not privy” to the reason for Ding’s initial investment in Pavillon.

Shares of Pavillon closed at S$0.042 on Monday, up S$0.002 or 5 per cent, before the announcement.