No more revision to note restructuring, says Rickmers trustee-manager

THE trustee-manager of Rickmers Maritime does not anticipate any revision to its announced offer regarding its note restructuring plan.

Chief executive Soeren Andersen made this comment in his response to an alleged "notice of acceleration" served by note-holders. He clarified that Rickmers Trust Management "has not received" the notice from notes trustee DB International even though the shipping trust acknowledged in a stock exchange filing the receipt of a letter from Singapore law firm Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP, alleging that the notice has been served on the notes trustee.

In the stock exchange filing issued after trading hours on Wednesday, Rickmers said that the notes trustee may at its discretion give notice to the shipping trust that the notes are immediately due and repayable under events of default as outlined in the terms and conditions of the notes. Or the notes trustee may also do so on request by holders of at least 25 per cent in principal amount of the notes, or if so directed by an extraordinary resolution of note-holders.

However, Rickmers said that the legal letter from Rajah & Tann "does not provide any details as to which of the events of default is being relied upon, nor any evidence the requisite 25 per cent threshold has been met".

The shipping trust is seeking its unitholders' approval for a substantial dilution required to support a revised note restructuring proposal. It is also seeking its unitholders' approval to wind up the trust. The trustee-manager is of opinion that it is impracticable or inadvisable to continue the trust in the event of an unsuccessful note restructuring.

Under the revised note restructuring plan, Rickmers has proposed to partially redeem the S$100 million 8.45 per cent note due 2017, bringing it down to S$40 million, with revised terms and repayable in November 2023.

The partial redemption, which is based on a substantial debt-to-equity swap, calls for the issue of some 1.32 billion new units, equivalent to 60 per cent of the proposed enlarged capital, to note-holders at S$0.045474 apiece or 12.4 per cent discount to the volume weighted average price of S$0.051892 per unit traded on Sept 21.

Units in the shipping trust closed unchanged at S$0.04.