Noble plans to set date for special general meeting

SINGAPORE: Noble Group Ltd said it plans to set the date for a special general meeting shortly that will decide the commodity trader’s controversial restructuring after the Singapore High Court blocked it from holding an annual general meeting (AGM) at the behest of dissident shareholder Goldilocks Investment Co.

The court, however, hadn’t restrained Noble from holding future special general meetings, said the company in a stock exchange filing yesterday.

It plans to go ahead with such a meeting to approve the disposal of a ship today, and looks forward to being in a position to publish the notice of a restructuring special general meeting and final shareholder circular in the near future.

If the AGM was held as originally scheduled, all resolutions proposed by Noble would have been approved by shareholders, based on proxy forms submitted in advance of the cancelled meeting, the filing showed.

Dissident shareholder Goldilocks hadn’t met all legal requirements in terms of its shareholdings and was not found by the High Court to be a member of the company under Bermuda law, said Noble.

Goldilocks is also required to begin registering as a depositor in respect of its shares in the Central Depository Ltd’s register by May 3.

Noble Group’s survival is hanging in the balance after a drawnout crisis marked by billions in losses, a default on its debt and an increasingly heated battle with Goldilocks.

Under the plan championed by chairman Paul Brough, control of the company would be handed to senior creditors in exchange for about half of the debt burden being written off.

Noble Group and its creditors had both warned that should the proposal flounder, the company might be forced to enter administration in the United Kingdom.

Notwithstanding current litigation with Goldilocks, Noble would try to reach an agreement with Goldilocks and its other creditors which would benefit all stakeholders, it said.