Kimly acquires Teck Whye coffeeshop for $14 mil amid ongoing investigations

SINGAPORE (Sept 24): Catalist-traded Kimly is acquiring its very first coffeeshop in Singapore for $14 million.

Jin Wei Food Holdings, a subsidiary of Kimly, has acquired the entire shareholding of Teck Whye 143 Food House (TW143) for $10,000 in cash.

TW143 had on Jan 3 exercised an option to purchase the coffeeshop at 143 Teck Whye Lane for $14 million. Acquisition of the property is set to be completed around Nov 1.

The coffeeshop property, which has a 93-year leasehold starting from July 1, 1992, has a strata floor area of 224 sqm and has one drinks stall, six other stalls, two kiosks and an outdoor refreshment area.

Upon completion of the acquisition, Kimly will manage the whole coffeeshop and also operate a mixed vegetable rice stall, a dim sum stall and the drinks stall.

Kimly says the acquisition is in line with the group’s strategy to enlarge its coffeeshop footprint and will be funded through the group’s internal resources and external financing.

Last Nov, Kimly’s executive chairman Lim Hee Liat and executive director Chia Cher Khiang were investigated by the Commercial Affairs Department and the Monetary Authority of Singapore for a suspected offence under the Securities and Futures Act.

See: Kimly chairman and director under probe; $16 mil acquisition cancelled

The company also announced it was cancelling an acquisition of the drinks company called Asian Story Corporation (ASC). The deal, which was paid using $16 million in cash, was announced as completed on July 2, 2018.

Lim and Chia were subsequently arrested on Dec 4 but released on bail the next day. No formal charges have been made against the two by the authorities.

In another development in August, Alain Ong Eng Sing, a former director of Kimly, was sued by Japanese beverage giant Pokka International for conspiring with others to divert business to ASC.

See: Kimly drawn into scandal involving former Pokka CEO Alain Ong

See also: Kimly denies ex-Pokka CEO Alain Ong is mastermind behind IPO, Asian Story acquisition

It is not known if the investigations of Lim and Chia were related to the Pokka lawsuit and Ong.

Year to date, shares in Kimly have fallen by 2 cents to close at 22 cents on Tuesday.