Singapore offshore company Swiber Holdings has taken a significant step forward in its restructuring with the signing of an investment agreement on Friday with Canadian boxship leasor Seaspan Corporation worth up to $200m.
Swiber, a marine engineering group, has been in judicial management for the past two years.
Under the new agreement, Seapsan will invest $10m to take an 80% shareholding interest in a new holding company to be incorporated into which certain assets of the existing Swiber Group will be transferred.
Further down the line, upon securing a development stage LNG-to-power project in Vietnam and achieving major project milestones, a subsequent tranche of $190m will be used to subscribe for preference shares in Equatoriale Energy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Swiber, which will also form part of the New Swiber group.
If a restructuring is successful, certain secured creditors of Swiber will be issued five-year zero coupon secured redeemable convertible bonds amounting to $120 million in New Swiber. This will allow New Swiber and the restructured New Swiber group to continue to operate the Swiber Group’s key assets, which include certain specialised construction vessels and its headquarters building, which are currently secured to such secured creditors.
In connection with the restructuring, it has been proposed that the unsecured creditors of Swiber, existing shareholders and certain management and professionals involved in the judicial management of Swiber will receive new shares in New Swiber, which will constitute 14%, 3% and 3% shareholding interest respectively in New Swiber immediately following completion of the initial Seaspan investment.