This follows Sias’ queries for clarification amid governance and valuation concerns
[SINGAPORE] Advanced Systems Automation will terminate its pre-conditional voluntary general offer for all the shares of Asti, it said in a bourse filing on Friday (Feb 20).
The company said it was no longer in its best interest to proceed with the offer, citing “significant delays” in the preliminary processes related to it, as well as “significant corporate actions” undertaken by Asti since the proposal was announced on Jan 14.
On Feb 12, the Securities Investors Association (Singapore), or Sias, issued an open letter which called on Advanced Systems Automation to clarify its pre-conditional offer for the Asti shares amid governance and valuation concerns.
On Friday, Advanced Systems Automation said it would review the queries and issue a response in due course, “if it deems necessary”.
The company had planned to offer two new shares for every Asti share, at S$0.005 apiece. This represented a 28.6 per cent discount to S$0.014, the price Asti traded at on Jul 4, 2022, before the stock was suspended.
Asti resumed trading on Jan 22, 2026. In the three-week period since, its shares traded around S$0.03, noted Sias founder and president David Gerald in the letter.
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In light of that, the implied discount to the offer has “widened materially” to be in excess of 67 per cent, he said.
Advanced Systems Automation’s core business is in the manufacturing of electromechanical components for the semiconductor and consumer electronics industries. It sought the acquisition to expand its in-house capabilities and pursue synergies with Asti’s tape and reel packaging services.
It said the offer’s termination is not expected to have any material impact on the earnings per share or net tangible assets per share of the company and the group for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2026.
It will also not affect the group’s ongoing operations and strategic initiatives, it added.
The board remains “committed to safeguarding shareholders’ value and will continue to evaluate opportunities that align with the company’s long-term objectives”.
Shares of Advanced Systems Automation closed flat at S$0.005 on Friday, before the news. Shares of Asti closed 30.8 per cent or S$0.012 higher at S$0.051.
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