Asia/Pacific News
Final Vote for Chemical Shipper's Restructuring Plan
Creditors of PT Berlian Laju Tanker (BLT) have failed to back the company's restructuring proposal, the Indonesian chemical shipper has said in a press release.
However the dual Jakarta and Singapore-listed company did receive enough votes to allow a second vote on the scheme to take place today, giving it a final chance to avoid bankruptcy.
In the vote last Friday, March 8, 2013, BLT said there was "overwhelming support" from its unsecured creditors to approve the restructuring plan, with a majority of 70 percent in number and 82 percent in value.
However BLT's secured creditors voted with a majority of 67 percent in number and 57 percent in value, which was not enough to meet the majority required to approve the plan.
As both classes of secured and unsecured creditors voted more than 50 percent in number and 50 percent in value in support of the plan, BLT said it was entitled to require a second vote to be held within eight days.
"Having met the requirements of Article 152 and 153, the Supervisory Judge ordered that a subsequent meeting be held at 3:00 PM on 14 March 2013. BLT will work with its secured creditors to obtain the requisite majority in respect of its secured creditors for approval of the Restructuring Plan," the company said.
Chairman Hadi Surya said last October he was looking to restructure $1.9 billion in debts by the end of 2012, and in January the company's creditors, including Bank Mandiri, Merrill Lynch, and Bank Central Asia, gave it a 75 day debt extension, after which the company will move into liquidation.
