Directors at beverage distributor Ascent Bridge quit, citing governance lapses; board rejects claims

[SINGAPORE] A boardroom battle at Ascent Bridge has culminated in the resignation of three independent directors, including its audit committee chairman and lead independent director, amid a dispute over corporate governance.

The company announced on Wednesday (Oct 29) through the Singapore Exchange (SGX) the cessation of Siow Chee Keong and Tan Khee Giap’s responsibilities as independent directors, effective Oct 28. Siow chaired the audit and risk committee, and Tan was the company’s lead independent director.

In its filing, the company stated that both directors had raised “concerns regarding the purported lack of corporate governance practices and the purported lack of transparency / management’s lack of co-operation” – but only after the board had first asked for their resignations.

The saga began on Oct 7, 2025, when shareholders Hu Yidong and Eastern Billion Industries Limited, holding a 12.96 per cent stake, filed a requisition notice to convene an extraordinary general meeting (EGM). The meeting was for the purpose of removing Siow, Tan, and a third director, Luke Anthony Furler, from their positions.

The filing, posted on SGX on Oct 8, said that “the Company is standing at a new starting point of development” and that the removal of the three directors would “ensure a smooth transition in governance and future growth”.

Furler resigned the same day the notice was received.

According to the filing on Oct 29, both Tan and Siow were “upset” by the requisition for the EGM, and at first refused the board’s request for their resignation.

Following this, the pair started “raising a number of corporate governance issues concerning the Company”. The dispute escalated, with Siow and Tan holding a meeting with SGX RegCo on Oct 16 – without informing the rest of the board – “to discuss matters concerning the Company”.

On SGX RegCo’s invitation, another meeting with the board chairman, Tan, Siow, and the company’s external auditors was held on Oct 24.

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On Oct 27, the company announced that it was still awaiting approval from SGX RegCo on the draft circular pertaining to the EGM, and that the company “intends to take steps to convene the EGM once the aforesaid approval is obtained”.

Despite their initial refusal, both Siow and Tan tendered their resignations on Oct 28. On the same day, the company’s lawyers requested the requisitioning shareholders to withdraw the EGM notice in light of the resignations. The shareholders agreed, and the company announced it would “cease to take steps to convene the EGM”.

The announcement posted on Wednesday (Oct 29) states that “the Board is of the opinion that there is absolutely no basis for the allegations made” by Tan and Siow “in any relation to the alleged lack of transparency and poor corporate governance practices of the Company, in any respect whatsoever”.

Following that, the board highlighted that both Tan and Siow’s allegations “are completely contradictory to the Statement of Corporate Governance the Company’s most recent Annual Report”, which they “had approved prior”.

The annual report, released on Sep 11 this year, states that the company has “complied in all material aspects with the principles and guidelines of the Code”.

The filing also argues that at the Company’s most recent AGM on Sep 26, 2025, which both Siow and Tan attended, the pair had not raised any issue regarding the Company’s corporate governance practices, though they had every opportunity to do so.

In a separate announcement on Oct 29, the requisitioning shareholders confirmed they had “no objections” to the Oct 22 appointment of a new independent director Yeo Kan Yen.

The departures of Siow and Tan leave the board in flux. The company noted that following Tan’s departure, its audit committee now has fewer than the required minimum of three members.

Shareholders and investors have been advised to exercise caution when dealing with the company’s shares.