SINGAPORE (Oct 1): LionGold Corp, one of the three companies at the centre of the 2013 penny stock crash saga, is now under the control of new shareholders.
At a special general meeting on Sept 30, shareholders approved a series of resolutions, including the issuance of 23 billion new shares at 0.1 cent each to two investors from China: Yao Liang and Yao Yuan.
They hold 51% and 49% respectively in an entity called Yaoo Capital, which is used to invest in LionGold. With the investment of $23 million, they now own more than 72% of the enlarged share capital of LionGold.
In an earlier circular on Dec 28 last year, LionGold CEO Raymond Tan said Yao Liang was his former client when he was at a partner at law firm Robert Wang & Woo. Tan introduced the Yaos to this deal.
According to LionGold, the Yaos “are of the view that there is untapped and discoverable potential” in the Ballarat project in Victoria, Australia, which the company owns.
“They intend to assess the situation post completion of the subscription agreement with a view to strengthening the core business activity of the Group. They also intend to look at other areas of growth with a view to enhancing shareholders’ values,” the company adds.
At the same meeting on Sept 30, LionGold shareholders also approved the termination of a redeemable convertible bond agreement with Value Capital Asset Management. Under terms of the agreement first inked back in 2015, VCAM will lend LionGold up to $100 million in three tranches, to be exercised up till 2020.
For the full year ended Dec 31 2018, LionGold reported earnings of $1.2 million. In the previous year, the company made a loss of $10.5 million. Revenue increased by 18.6% to $70.1 million in the same period.
Since 2016, LionGold shares have traded within a range of 0.1 cent and 0.2 cent. As at 1.03pm, it was trading flat at 0.1 cent.
