Ezra Holdings' deadline extension for restructuring plan approved

BELEAGUERED offshore-services provider Ezra Holdings announced after trading hours on Tuesday that the US Bankruptcy Court has approved its application to extend the deadline for its restructuring plan to Nov 13, 2017.

In addition, no other parties may solicit votes for any plan before Jan 12, 2018. As part of the Ezra Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing, approvals have been obtained from the US Bankruptcy Court to pay salaries to employees and selected unsecured debts owing to certain critical vendors.

Ezra Holdings, together with its wholly owned subsidiaries EMAS IT Solutions and Ezra Marine Services, will continue to pay vendors for ongoing operations post-Ezra Chapter 11 Filing. These payments are necessary to maintain their continued operations until finalisation of the restructuring plan, said Ezra Holdings.

Apart from these payments, the entities have not made any payment to secured bank creditors and other unsecured creditors.

The company is also not permitted to pay the interest due on Oct 24 with respect to its S$150 million 4.875 per cent fixed rate notes due 2018, comprised in Series 003 issued under its US$500 million multicurrency debt issuance programme.

This is because it constitutes pre-Ezra Chapter 11 Filing unsecured claim payment that the company is not permitted to make under the US Bankruptcy Code.

Similarly, the company is also not permitted to make payment for the interest previously due on April 24, 2017, with respect to the notes.

Payment of interest will only be determined once the restructuring plan is finalised.

The company will work together with the Securities Investors Association (Singapore) and the HSBC Institutional Trust Services (Singapore) Ltd, the trustee of the notes, to hold an informal meeting with the noteholders once the plan is near-finalised.