Rickmers Maritime’s bid to avoid liquidation via debt refinancing has not been received well by investors.
The Singapore-listed containership shipping trust said yesterday unless it is able to delay repaying of $253m of debt it will be forced to either liquidate or seek judicial management. The company outlined with investors yesterday plans to exchange their debt with S$28m of new perpetual bonds, which would see these lenders taking a significant haircut.
The Straits Times is reporting that, as of last evening, more than 30 bondholders had formed a steering committee, and plan to appoint a legal adviser to negotiate better terms with the trustee-manager.
Soeren Andersen, ceo of Rickmers Trust Management, defended his company’s restructurting plans, telling Splash today: “The objectives of the meeting were to explain the situation and proposal to noteholders and listen to their views. We value their feedback and bear their desired outcome in mind. There are limits to what we are able to do, given the difficult circumstances. Still, we want to preserve as much value as possible in the shortest time, avoiding maximum loss.”
The firm’s stock price was down over 13% today.
