Swissco vessel sale to go ahead without needing shareholders' approval
Singapore
INTERNATIONAL marine company Swissco Holdings has been waived from the requirement to obtain shareholders' approval for the proposed sale of Coral Knight vessel by its subsidiary, Swissco Offshore, to Australian Maritime Systems Asset Holdings Pty Ltd (AMSA).
The judicial managers of the group said in a Singapore Exchange (SGX) filing on Monday that SGX has not objected to its waiver application concerning the proposed disposal.
The company had sought the waiver on several grounds, among others, that Coral Knight is currently mortgaged to OCBC Bank as security to facilities extended to Swissco. In the event of a default, OCBC may have the right to possess and dispose of the vessel and to use the proceeds to discharge its asset-holding subsidiary Swissco Offshore's obligations and liabilities under OCBC's facilities.
As such, if shareholders do not grant the approval in an extraordinary general meeting for the vessel sale and under the circumstances of a forced sale, the estimated vessel price is US$5 million, lower than the amount agreed with AMSA.
AMSA has earlier signed a memorandum of agreement for the proposed sale of the vessel for US$7.2 million in cash. The amount comprises US$172,000 in sales commission payable to Pareto Securities Pte Ltd and the balance of US$7.03 million to Swissco Offshore.
The proposed sale of the vessel will help Swissco pay down all the amounts owing under the OCBC facilities. It will also allow the discharge of the mortgage over Swissco Synergy, another vessel owned by the company, as security for the OCBC facilities, as reported earlier.
It was previously reported that the Singapore-registered Coral Knight vessel, built in 2014, was bareboat-chartered to AMSA up to April 29, 2017 or a date to be mutually agreed with Swissco Offshore. Swissco took to judicial management last November after its main lenders rejected its debt restructuring plan.
