Asia/Pacific News
HMM Gets Green Light for Finance Rescheduling
Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) has received approval from its creditors’ council, which is headed by the Korea Development Bank (KDB), for the extension of its debt maturity from March 29 to June 29, 2016 - lending the troubled company much needed time to stabilise its financial situation and raise its liquidity.
In a stock exchange filing, KDB said that the voluntary agreement stipulates that all interested parties share the burden of the decision to extend the credit period.
As Ship & Bunker has previously reported, while KDB had agreed to extend principal and interest payments by three months, the company still needed to secure approval from HMM's bondholders for the maturity extension,
With private bond-holders having now agreed to extend the maturity of the debt due in April and July this year, HMM's debt repayments have been reduced to KRW 120 billion ($104 million) due in April, and KRW 240 billion ($208 million) due in July, although HMM says it will not have sufficient liquidity to make the April payments.
Separately, Alphaliner reports that HMM has reached agreement with an unspecified shipowner to reduce its charter rates, but specific details of the deal have not yet been revealed.
Earlier this week, Ship & Bunker reported that Alphaliner said that bankruptcy was edging closer for HMM.
