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(Bloomberg) — Zilingo Pte’s board of directors is weighing options for the embattled Singapore startup after a financial adviser to the company said liquidation is the most viable solution and its co-founder presented an 11th-hour pitch for a management buyout.
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The board members met on Monday to hear the alternatives, including a presentation from adviser Deloitte LLP to sell off the company’s assets, according to people familiar with the matter. Co-founder Dhruv Kapoor briefly made the pitch for a buyout, a surprise, last-minute development, said the people, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private.
The board meeting ended without a decision on Zilingo’s fate, they said. Directors will consider Deloitte’s findings as well as the new management buyout proposal, and they’re trying to set a date for a new gathering.
Zilingo and Deloitte representatives didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Kapoor proposed the buyout to the Singapore-based company’s board late Sunday. He has secured commitments from a small group of new investors including a US private equity firm, Bloomberg News reported Sunday. The offer detailed plans for the investor group to inject $8 million in new equity in a newly incorporated entity in tranches, while the remaining assets and the old corporate entity would be liquidated in due course.
Ankiti Bose, the startup’s ousted chief executive officer, endorsed Kapoor’s preliminary proposal minutes after it was sent out to existing shareholders. In her email, as seen by Bloomberg News, Bose urged investors to see beyond their “personal differences” and support the initiative.
Read More: Zilingo Founders Make Surprise Buyout Offer for Startup
Allegations of financial irregularities in March prompted an investigation into Zilingo, valued at $970 million in 2019, and led to the dismissal of co-founder Bose as CEO in May. Her ouster plunged the once high-flying startup into crisis and sent shockwaves through Southeast Asia and India’s technology industry.
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