It appears I was right about the29 May 2017 11:01
advisers and brokers not agreeing with Ivan Tehs strategy - why were these two holders of more than 5% not disclosed before?
The joint broker and public relations adviser to Fusionex have both quit in protest at a backdoor attempt by its Malaysian founder to seize control of the technology company.
Peel Hunt and Buchanan resigned over a plot by Ivan Teh, who is also Fusionex’s chief executive, to cancel the company’s listing on the Alternative Investment Market, leaving minority shareholders in the lurch. Fusionex waited until after the market had closed on Friday to disclose the scheme.
Mr Teh owns 41 per cent of the £71 million group but is said to be backed by a senior Fusionex employee, Chen Keat Ming, the holder of a further 13 per cent. Another 5 per cent is held by Quek Tuck Loong, an investor since its flotation in December 2012.
Mr Teh needs 75 per cent support at a shareholder meeting in Malaysia on June 15 to drive the delisting through, a move that would leave minority investors with hard-to-sell shares in a Malaysian-controlled unquoted company. Given the typical turnout at shareholders meetings, Mr Teh may be able to count on enough backers already.
Fusionex told its two brokers of its plans on Wednesday night, leading to a row with Peel Hunt, which promptly quit. Its name was absent from Friday’s announcement, which was issued by the nominated adviser Stifel, the other joint-broker.
Peel Hunt has been a broker to Fusionex only since September. Stifel came on board in February.
Buchanan PR also quit and insisted that its name did not appear on the statement. Peel Hunt and Buchanan declined to comment.
It is thought that John Croft, the company’s non-executive chairman, is unhappy at Mr Teh’s plans, though neither could be reached for comment.
The biggest non-Malaysian investors are Credit Suisse, with 3.6 per cent, the West Yorkshire Pension Fund, with 2.8 per cent, and the National Farmers’ Union, the holder of 1.5 per cent. Credit Suisse declined to comment, while the NFU said that it “monitors all of our investments”. Baillie Gifford, a smaller shareholder, also had no comment.
Fusionex’s statement said it was delisting as the directors believed that for the past 15 months “the performance of the company’s share price has been disappointing”, down from about 350p to 129p, below the 150p at which it joined Aim. It attributed that to a “lack of liquidity”, something exacerbated by the “political uncertainty in Europe”.