Amy Leong, CEO of AEM Holdings, has resigned, having served just one year in this role.
Samer Kabbani, currently president and chief technology officer of the company, will take over with effect from Monday, July 28.
In an SGX filing on July 27, AEM says Leong is leaving her role because of "board-led leadership realignment for growth."
AEM's chairman, since 2011, is Loke Wai San, whose investment firm Novos Tellus was a key investor in AEM.
Leong took over from previous CEO, Chandran Nair, who served as the CEO between July 2020 and June 2024.
Kabbani has been with the company since September 2020 and has led the company's next-generation test technology roadmap.
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He was previously executive vice president at Advantest and Astronics Test Systems, respectively.
As described on AEM's website, Kabbani "is a prolific innovator with more than 30 registered patents in areas of advanced thermal management, photoresist processing, factory automation, and vision alignment and inspection."
In a separate press release, Kabbani says he is "honoured" by the board's confidence and is "excited" to lead the company into its next chapter.
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"AEM is uniquely poised to capitalise on the exciting wave of AI-driven semiconductor innovation.
"With our thermal technologies and automation expertise, we are solving real problems for the world’s most advanced semiconductor companies. We will continue to focus on innovation in test, deepen our customer relationships, and work with our customers, partners, and employees to continue scaling our impact," he adds.
Loke, the chairman, says Kabbani's leadership is central to AEM’s long-term strategy.
"Together with the broader AEM leadership team, the board is confident that the group will continue to deliver diversified growth through our innovative technology platforms," he adds.
In a note on July 28, DBS points out that Kabbani’s appointment ensures continuity and deep technical leadership.
Nonetheless, "the abrupt leadership change and relatively short tenure of the outgoing CEO may weigh on sentiment in the near term."
AEM shares closed at $1.72 on July 25, up 1.78%, following a higher price target call on July 25 by DBS amid an overall bullish market.
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From an earlier target price of $1.50, Amanda Tan and Ling Lee Keng of DBS now rate this counter as worth $2.10.
In their July 28 note, DBS has kept the "buy" call and $2.10 target price.
Kabbani has been with the company since Sept 2020 and has led the company's next-generation test technology roadmap / Photo: AEM Holdings website
