Requisition to internalise trustee-manager could delay Dasin Retail Trust’s restructuring, says lender
Michelle Zhu
ONE of Dasin Retail Trust’s lenders has expressed concern that the China property trust’s planned debt restructuring “may be further protracted” in the event that a proposed internalisation of its trustee-manager goes through.
In an update on Monday (Dec 4), trustee-manager Dasin Retail Trust Management (DRTM) reiterated that the Nov 23 requisition notice would be “considered in full” by its board after the unitholding of the requisitioners, and the validity of their requisition notice, have been verified and confirmed.
To recap, a group of 15 investors who claim to collectively hold over 10 per cent of the units in Dasin Retail Trust are seeking to replace the current external trustee-manager with a newly incorporated internal one.
DRTM announced its receipt of the requisition notice on Nov 25.
In its Dec 4 announcement, the trustee-manager also provided several updates regarding its ongoing debt restructuring efforts.
As one of the marketing agents appointed for properties owned by the trust, JLL said it was “liaising with a few potential investors” who expressed interest in the trust’s properties.
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This comes after Dasin Retail Trust’s largest controlling unitholder Zhang Zhencheng agreed to provide pre-approval for the trust’s sale of retail malls at, or above, minimum selling prices.
Referring to an Oct 18 call that involved DRTM representatives, the trust’s lenders and its financial adviser FTI Consulting, the trustee-manager said it is “still in the process of considering certain requests” made by the lenders.
In addition, it received further input from “a certain onshore lender” on terms of the proposed restructuring, which the trustee-manager also said it is in the process of considering.
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Other matters discussed during the Oct 18 call included the appointment of a monitoring accountant upon resigning of the restructuring term sheet.
DRTM said some of the lenders have conveyed their preference for FTI to take on this role, due to its “extensive involvement in the debt restructuring and familiarity with the affairs of the trust”.
Units of Dasin Retail Trust were trading S$0.006 or 12.3 per cent higher at S$0.055 as at 2.22 pm on Monday, after the release of its update.
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