Court gives nod for KrisEnergy scheme meeting, extends debt stay to January

THE Singapore High Court has granted leave for debt-ridden KrisEnergy to convene a meeting of its scheme creditors within three months from Nov 16.

The mainboard-listed upstream oil and gas firm's debt moratorium has also been extended again, this time to Jan 16, 2021. It was first granted in September last year.

KrisEnergy's creditors include Keppel Shipyard, DBS, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, zero-coupon noteholders, holders of its S$130 million senior unsecured notes due 2022, holders of its S$200 million senior unsecured notes due 2023, Rubicon Vantage International and Maritime International Services.

At the scheme meeting, only scheme creditors in a contractual relationship with KrisEnergy will be entitled to vote by appointing the chairman of the meeting as proxy. The Central Depository account holders who invested in the due-2022 and due-2023 notes will also be able to nominate the chairman to vote at the meeting.

KrisEnergy, seeking to restructure debts to the tune of US$476.8 million, has proposed a debt-to-equity swap. The shareholding structure after the restructuring will see unsecured creditors owning a 46.2 per cent stake and the zero-coupon noteholders holding 43.8 per cent.

The firm last month sought the court's permission to convene the meeting and another extension to its moratorium.

Mainboard-listed conglomerate Keppel Corp owns a 40 per cent stake in KrisEnergy.

KrisEnergy shares have been suspended from trading since August last year.