Keppel associate Floatel's bonds forbearance agreement extended to Nov 30

AN agreement between Keppel Corp associate Floatel International and its bondholders has been extended by another two weeks, as talks with creditors continue.

Floatel's forbearance and deferral agreement with an ad-hoc committee of first-lien bondholders was most recently pushed from Nov 15 to Nov 30, according to an update on Saturday.

The agreement with some of the holders of the Oslo-listed US$400 million senior secured, first-lien 9 per cent bonds was inked in April but has been extended numerous times since then.

Floating accommodation provider Floatel, which has a five-vessel fleet, said in a statement that it "remains in constructive negotiations with its key stakeholders", including the ad-hoc committee and the bank lenders with whom it has credit facilities.

"The vessels that are on charter continue to operate as normal, and it is business as usual for the group's operations," Floatel added.

Meanwhile, Keppel said in a Singapore Exchange filing that it "will continue to monitor developments and make the necessary disclosures as appropriate". Keppel owns an indirect stake of 49.92 per cent in Floatel through its offshore and marine arm.

Keppel closed down by S$0.03, or 0.61 per cent, at S$4.87 on Friday, before the news.