Triyards gets US$3.8m from pledged loan, faces wind-up petition

TRIYARDS, the listed yard operating arm of insolvent offshore and marine group Ezra Holdings, has received the balance US$3.8 million of a promised US$5 million lifeline from Ferrell Vanguard Fund SPC.

The additional cash landed as creditors piled claims and served a winding-up petition on it.

Triyards said on Wednesday the balance of the loan pledged by Ferrell was disbursed on Monday after certain terms of an exclusivity agreement signed on Feb 12 by the the two parties were amended.

It did not disclose the amendments but added that a 180-day exclusivity period extended to Ferrell for the purpose of drawing up a comprehensive restructuring plan has kicked in on the disbursement of the balance loan.

The restructuring plan will involve a further injection of no less than US$50 million, either in debt or equity financing, for Triyards. 

On Monday, Triyards was served an originating summon filed by Ocean Energy Ventures that seeks to wind up the yard group.

Ocean Energy Ventures is claiming US$2.1 million against Triyards.  Triyards said discussions are ongoing with this trade creditor and it hoped to achieve "a positive resolution of the matter".

Other lenders and creditors have also pursued legal actions and piled claims on Triyards and its subsidiaries.

Triyards has received letters of demand from certain lenders for claims amounting to about US$80.1 million.  These include US$32.1 million of some US$37.1 million lenders are claiming against the group's subsidiary, Saigon Offshore Fabrication And Engineering (SOFEL).

SOFEL "has been in productive discussions with its lenders ... and the execution of the exclusivity agreement with Ferrell is likely to assist in these discussions", the group said.

In addition, certain subsidiaries of Triyards have received statutory demands and litigation claims from their suppliers amounting to US$7.5 million. A supplier has gone one step further to initiate bankruptcy proceedings against one Triyards subsidiary for a claim of about US$1.2 million.

Ferrell has extended support to Triyards' subsidiaries to help ease their liquidity crunch. The former has entered into two separate sales agreements with SOFEL and Saigon Shipyard Company  for the sale and supply of tools and equipment.  Each subsidiary has already received US$0.995 million of the agreed US$1 million of lump-sum consideration.  

"Ferrell is prepared to enter into similar contracts to provide additional liquidity of US$4.2 million," Triyards added.

Meanwhile, SOFEL has received a notice of termination for a contract dated Oct 10, 2016 for the construction of a floating dock valued at US$15.2 million.

The client behind this contract has claimed US$3.9 million from the refund guarantee and performance bond provided by the bank on termination of the contract.

Triyards went into trading suspension last September, six months after its parent group, Ezra Holdings, filed for bankruptcy protection in the US.