By Mak Yuen Teen
On April 13, I received an undated and unsigned letter that was purportedly sent by Ms Ng Siew Hong to Datapulse Technology shareholders. The letter said: “…if you agree with Ms Intan’s proposal, you should sell your shares immediately instead. The liquidation price of Datapulse is less than the current market price. You will be able to get better value through a sale in the market right now.”.
Based on the company’s last results announcement for the second quarter ending January 31, 2018, the net asset value per share is 39.1 cents. Datapulse shares were trading in the range of 36 to 37 cents on April 13 and had closed below the NAV every day since November 28, 2017. What basis did Ms Ng Siew Hong have for making the definitive statement that “the liquidation price of Datapulse is less than the current market price” and for telling shareholders that they “will be able to get better value through a sale in the market right now”? Did she have additional information in her possession about NAV or the liquidation value? She did not qualify her statements. Did she make the statements with the intention of getting Datapulse shareholders to sell so that there will be fewer votes supporting the resolutions proposed by the requisitioning shareholders? Or because she was hoping to depress the share price so that she can buy more shares cheaply? It should be pointed out that Datapulse shares closed at 38 cents the day before, and by the end of April 13, it had closed at 36 cents.
Are her statements in accordance with our securities laws?
