A BITTER DISPUTE has erupted between some investors of corporate finance firm International Capital Network Holdings (ICN) and its largest shareholders. But other investors have been left in the dark as to the reasons for the discord due to limited disclosure from both sides.
ICN listed on the Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) in November, raising HK$47 million for the firm. The company is still sitting on most of the cash, with HK$51 million in the bank at the end of January. Total assets are HK$52.4 million.
On April 10, two shareholders - Leung Yuk-kit and Digital World Holdings - with a combined stake of 11.21 per cent demanded an extraordinary general meeting to elect seven new directors to the board of ICN. Ms Leung is a co-founder of ICN and Digital World is a technology company listed on the main board of the stock exchange.
If elected, the new directors would outnumber the incumbents - two executive and two non-executive directors.
The two executive directors are chairman Dan Hui Chuen-kin and vice-chairman Michael Lui Bing-kin. Together, the two men own 39.46 per cent of ICN. Another co-founder of ICN, Cecilia Chu Oi-wan, has a 24.33 per cent stake.
The aggrieved investors also sought to revoke the general mandate of the present directors to issue new shares of ICN. ICN issued an announcement saying it had received the demand for the meeting and the planned election.
However, the two aggrieved shareholders were not satisfied with the level of disclosure by ICN and placed an English language announcement in the Oriental Daily News on April 16 to vent their anger.