Swiber gets 1 more month for judicial management

THE Singapore High Court has granted Swiber Holdings and its subsidiary Swiber Offshore Construction a one-month extension till Jan 31, 2020, for their judicial management periods, during an interim hearing.

The original deadline for the troubled offshore and marine group was set for Dec 31, 2019.

The judicial managers had requested an extension till June 30, 2020. The purpose of the interim hearing on Thursday was to seek a temporary extension, pending the outcome of a substantive hearing when the court will determine the judicial managers' application for the later deadline.

Swiber said on Friday that the substantive hearing will take place in January next year, on a date to be fixed.

Judicial management is a type of debt restructuring procedure where an independent judicial manager is appointed to control the affairs, business and property of a company under financial distress.

Swiber and its subsidiary were placed into judicial management in October 2016.

In July this year, Swiber applied for more time - until Dec 31 - to submit to the Singapore Exchange a proposal on resuming trading in its shares, which has been suspended since 2016.