Shareholder tussle
Cordlife’s statement follows its disclosure on Thursday that two of its substantial shareholders were separately requisitioning the removal of directors from its board.
One shareholder, Nanjing Xinjiekou Department Store, requested that the board convene an extraordinary general meeting (EGM). Cordlife’s annual report stated that this company had a 20.3 per cent stake in Cordlife as at Mar 20, 2023.
The Mar 14 notice laid out seven ordinary resolutions.
Of the seven, three called for the removal of Ho, Yeo and Cheong, three of the four Cordlife directors arrested and out on bail; one more resolution sought the removal of Wong, who is based outside Singapore and been asked to attend the Apr 2 interview at CAD.
The remaining three resolutions concerned the appointment of three individuals to the board – Teo Tong Kooi, Xu Tianhong and Cai Yong.
On Mar 18, the company received a letter from controlling shareholder TransGlobal, also requisitioning an EGM to vote on three ordinary resolutions.
The first was to reject the proposed resolutions in the Mar 14 requisition notice; the other two concerned the removal of two non-independent, non-executive directors: Shally Chen, also known as Chen Xiaoling, and Zhai Lingyun. Both directors were previously nominated to the board by Shanghai-listed Nanjing Xinjiekou Department Store and are involved with the company. Chen is a senior director, and Zhai is the chair of Nanjing Xinjiekou’s board.
Cordlife on Thursday said that it is seeking legal advice as it considers both notices.
The group called for a trading halt on Mar 14 after the company’s shares fell 6.3 per cent or S$0.015 to S$0.225.
After its latest announcement regarding its directors and former group chief’s involvement in CAD’s investigations, the company requested to resume trading on Friday.
Cordlife was recently thrust into the spotlight after MOH began investigations into its operations.
Last November, MOH handed the mainboard-listed healthcare provider a six-month suspension notice when it came to light that Cordlife kept some cord-blood tanks at above acceptable temperature limits. An audit found that cryopreserved cord-blood units in seven tanks had been exposed to temperatures above -150 deg Celsius.
At the time, the cord-blood units in one of the seven tanks were confirmed to have been damaged. Some 2,200 cord-blood units in the tank belong to at least 2,150 clients.
MOH said the final results of the tests on the affected cord-blood units will be ready by end-March.
The ministry also found three other process lapses at Cordlife, and said it would require the healthcare group to rectify these issues by end-May.
Earlier this month, the group reported that its net profit for the second half ended Dec 31, 2023, fell 50.3 per cent to S$1.5 million from S$3 million in the year prior.
Amid the six-month suspension imposed by MOH from Dec 15, 2023, revenue was down 4.5 per cent year on year to S$27.6 million, mainly due to lower banking revenue contributions amid a decrease in new samples stored in Singapore, India and Indonesia.
