Date: August 22, 2011
SIAS has been approached by some shareholders of Sino-E to advise them on how to vote during the coming Court Meeting of Shareholders on 26 August 2011 at 11am at Training Room 903, NTUC Centre, One Marina Boulevard, Singapore 018989.
We understand that the purpose of the meeting is for shareholders to consider the Scheme of Compromise and Arrangement proposed by the Judicial Managers of Sino-E, Messrs Seshadri Rajagopalan and Ee Meng Yen Angela of Ernst & Young LLP, on behalf of Sino-E, to its creditors and shareholders. The Scheme proposed, involves shareholders being issued 1 AVIC Singapore share for every 250 Sino-E shares they currently own. This is based on a projected Compliance Placement Price of 50 cents. AVIC International Investments Ltd (“AVIC Singapore”) is the ship-trading and ship building management arm and an indirect subsidiary of Aviation Industry Corporation of China (“AVIC”). As we understand, AVIC is a large state-owned enterprise that is authorized and managed by the Central Government of the PRC.
Shareholders of Sino-E should consider the proposed Scheme carefully. Given that the company is insolvent, the Scheme, currently appears to be the only viable option available to shareholders to extract value for their investment in Sino-E. If the Scheme fails, Sino-E will be delisted and likely to be placed in liquidation. Once that happens, shareholders are unlikely to have any recovery on their investment in the company.
The IFA appointed by the company, Stirling Coleman, has recommended the shareholders to vote in favour of the Scheme as they are of the view that “on balance, the financial terms of the Scheme to Shareholders, when considered in the context of the prospects of a delisting and the unlikely event that the Shareholders would be able to recover any value from their Shares in the event of a liquidation, are fair and reasonable.”
SIAS calls upon all the minority shareholders of Sino-E to attend the Court Meeting and give their serious consideration for the Scheme as this is the only option available to the shareholders to recover value for their investment in the company. If Shareholders are unable to attend the Court Meeting, they can appoint the Chairman as their proxy to vote in favour of the Scheme. The last date for the submission of the proxy form to the Judicial Managers’ office at One Raffles Quay, North Tower, Level 18, Singapore 048583 is at 5 pm on 24 August 2011. If shareholders have any questions on the Scheme, should contact the Judicial Managers office at 6309 6118 and 6309 6470.
David Gerald
President/CEO
Securities Investors Association (Singapore)
