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進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 XPEC chairman questioned over failed share sale
Shang Chieh-mei, front, secretary-general of the Chinese Association of Finance Professionals and Investors, yesterday waits at the entrance to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office to file lawsuits against game developer XPEC Entertainment Inc chairman Aaron Hsu and three independent directors. Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
By Lauly Li / Staff reporter
XPEC Entertainment Inc （樂陞科技） chairman Aaron Hsu （許金龍） yesterday was questioned as a witness by Taipei investigators over Bai Chi Gan Tou Digital Entertainment Co’s （百尺竿頭） failed tender offer.
Hsu returned from Japan on Tuesday night and went to the Criminal Investigation Bureau’s office in Taipei yesterday morning, XPEC said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
The Chinese-language Apple Daily quoted Hsu as saying that his priority after returning to Taipei was to improve XPEC’s stock liquidity, as the company’s shares had plummeted by the 10 percent daily limit for six consecutive trading sessions as of yesterday.
There are still sell orders on more than 13.47 million XPEC shares waiting to be executed in the next session, Taipei Exchange data showed.
Bai Chi on May 31 announced that it would spend NT$4.86 billion （US$155.6 million at current exchange rates） to purchase 38 million common shares, or a 25.17 percent stake, in the Taiwanese gaming developer. However, last month, Bai Chi said it was considering delaying the deal and extending its payment deadlines.
On Aug. 30, the Japanese firm said it was ditching the deal because of concerns over XPEC’s share price, making it the first default on a tender offer settlement in Taiwan.
XPEC said in a statement that it would convene a board meeting today to make an official decision on whether to sue Bai Chi and CTBC Bank Co （中國信託銀行） for fraud.
Meanwhile, the Securities and Futures Investors Protection Center said it would start accepting applications from XPEC shareholders who had sold their stake to Bai Chi to file a class-action lawsuit against the Japanese firm.
“We want to file the class-action lawsuit as soon as possible, so the center will only accept investors’ applications until Sept. 20,” center chairman Chiou Chin-ting （邱欽庭） told a news conference.
Once a class-action case is successfully established, the center will ask Bai Chi to pay moratory interest on its delayed payment of its offer of NT$128 per share to investors, Chiou said.
If prosecutors find that XPEC’s independent directors have contravened the law, the center would also seek compensation from those directors, he added.
The Chinese Association of Finance Professionals and Investors （中華金融人員暨投資人協會） also pressed charges against Hsu and XPEC’s three independent directors for violating the Securities and Exchange Act （證券交易法） and breach of trust.
The three are media personality Sisy Chen （陳文茜）, who resigned from the board on Tuesday night, former minister of economic affairs Yiin Chii-ming （尹啟銘） and former Taipei Department of Cultural Affairs director Lee Yong-ping （李永萍）.
The association said Hsu and XPEC’s independent directors failed to investigate Bai Chi’s offer properly before agreeing to it in June.
XPEC yesterday reported unaudited net income of NT$19 million, or NT$0.12 per share, for July, in line with a request by the Taipei Exchange following its volatile share price performance.
The figure represented an 80.21 percent plunge from the NT$96 million, or NT$0.72 per share, it made over the same time last year, the company’s filing showed.
XPEC is scheduled to release its revenue for last month before Monday.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
