[Update: The Board of Kimly Limited issued a clarification on September 30, stating that "the Company does not comment on news or information from third party sources."]

It appears that the Chinese evening dailies have another scoop on Alain Ong a.k.a ex-Pokka CEO a.k.a husband of Pokka ambassador Vivian Lai.

In case you didn't know, Ong was recently suspended from his CEO duties at Pokka:

According to Lianhe Wanbao (LHWB), sources familiar with the company told the paper that Ong had already made preparations to move over to Kimly Limited.

Kimly Limited is one of the largest coffee shop operators in Singapore alongside Kopitiam Group, Chang Cheng Group and Kim San Leng.

It manages 60 coffee shops, four industrial canteens, and four food courts.

Here's what you should know about Kimly Limited:

Kimly Limited is the first coffee shop operator to be listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), in March 2017.

According to LHWB, Ong (who also goes by Ong Eng Sing) joined Kimly Limited as a Non-Executive and Non-Independent director in February 2017. He was also on Kimly's Audit Committee and Renumeration Committee.

Kimly announced that Ong retired from its Board of Directors in January 2018 due to "other principal commitments".

The announcement also stated that Ong has 5,140,000 ordinary shares (direct interest) in Kimly.

[related_story]

In July 2018, Kimly Ltd announced that it acquired Asian Story Corporation for $16 million, adding that the acquisition would allow it to sell the Asian Story beverages at all of the drinks stalls operated by them.

Asian Story Corporation (ASC) manufactures drinks like soya bean, winter melon tea, bandung and herbal tea under its Asian Story brand (said to be the number 3 brand in the domestic Asian drinks market), as well as Simply Water (mineral water). It is distributed by Pokka Corp in Singapore, Malaysia, and Brunei. 

Both Pokka and Asian Story sponsor Chinese variety shows such as What's In The Fridge? (冰箱的秘密) which is hosted by Lai.

Lai is also a long-time ambassador for Pokka while her co-host, Pornsak, has an endorsement deal with Asian Story.

Kimly Limited responded on September 30 stating that it does not comment on information from third party sources.

More stories about Alain Ong:

Top photos adapted via Pokka Facebook page, Kimly IPO announcement

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