Potential white knight Yinson could pull plug on Ezion lifeline

TROUBLED offshore and marine group Ezion Holdings on Monday said its potential white knight Malaysia-listed Yinson Holdings has not entered into the debt assignment agreements with its lenders by the April 14 deadline.

That means Yinson has the right to terminate the conditional debt conversion agreement immediately, in which case its proposed share subscription and grant of options will not proceed.

Ezion said Yinson is still in negotiations with Ezion's "designated lenders" - certain lenders, including major secured ones - for a rescue package that will see Yinson wiping off US$916 million of Ezion's debt and in turn get new Ezion shares at 5.5 Singapore cents apiece.

The ailing firm announced on March 31 that Yinson Eden Pte Ltd, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Malaysia's Yinson Holdings, was looking to acquire the rights and benefits of the US$916 million debt and emerge as Ezion's controlling owner. Yinson is an integrated offshore production and support services provider company. 

This deal follows just over a year after Ezion landed with a US$2 billion refinancing package from six secured lenders - DBS Bank, OCBC Bank, United Overseas Bank, MayBank, CIMB and Caterpillar Financial.