Titan Petrochemicals Sued by Warburg Pincus, Suspends Share Trading

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Monday July 23, 2012

Titan Petrochemicals Group Ltd. (Titan) [HKG:1192] said in a press release Friday it is being sued by U.S. private equity firm Warburg Pincus, LLC (Warburg Pincus) for breach of contract and misrepresentations regarding the financial position of some of its subsidiaries, including British Virgin Islands entity StorageCo.

According to the statement, the breach of contract relates to an amended and restated July 17, 2009 dated StorageCo investor rights agreement.

Titan, its founder Tsoi Tin Chun and two other executives are reported to be responsible for 1.48 billion yuan (USD $232 million) of unauthorized guarantees by subsidiaries of Titan.

The action is being taken via Warburg Pincus' Saturn Storage Ltd entity with the lawsuit having been filed in the High Court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

The statement said it was currently not practical to assess the potential impact of the action, and further announcements would be made as and when appropriate.

Titan also said effective 9:00 a.m. on June 19, 2012 trading in the shares of company were suspended and will remain suspended until further notice.

Warburg Pincus, who has invested more than $215 million in Titan, earlier in July filed a winding up order against Titan's BVI entity StorageCo which Titan also revealed Friday has resulted in an order to liquidate the business.