KUALA LUMPUR: Apex Equity Holdings Bhd’s extraordinary general meeting (EGM) next Monday (Nov 18), which was planned mainly to seek shareholders' approval for the proposed merger of its unit JF Apex Securities Bhd with Mercury Securities Sdn Bhd (JF Apex-Mercury merger), may not take place as scheduled.

This is because the company’s shareholder, Pinerains Sdn Bhd, which holds a 4.17% stake in the company, is seeking to adjourn the EGM, pending the appointment of an independent advisor by the Securities Commission, according to Apex Equity’s stock exchange filing today.

Pinerains, which has served a notice of its court application for the adjounment to Apex Equity, is also seeking the appointment of an independent scrutineer on behalf of the shareholders to attend the EGM, so as to scrutinise and report in detail on the voting at the meeting.

The High Court of Malaya has fixed Nov 15 for the hearing of Pinerains’ notice of application, Apex Equity said.

On Oct 24, Apex scheduled to convene an EGM on Nov 18 to, again, table a resolution on the merger between its Kajang-based stockbroking unit JF Apex Securities Bhd and Mercury Securities Sdn Bhd.

A resolution on the merger had earlier been tabled at its EGM on June 19, where 54.8% of its shareholders voted in favour.

However, the resolution was invalidated by the High Court on Sept 18, following the intervention of minority shareholder Pinerains against a vesting order application by Apex Equity to proceed with the merger.

The decision by High Court judge Azizul Azmi Adnan was made on the grounds that the circular to shareholders on the proposed merger was opaque.

Besides seeking shareholder's approval again for the proposed merger, Apex Equity is planning to seek approval for a proposed private placement on Nov 18, as well as a proposed alteration of the existing merger and acquisition (M&A) in its entirety.

Apex Equity shares, which were not traded yesterday, closed at 89 sen on Nov 11 for a market capitalisation of RM180.35 million.