Vibrant Group unit will not pursue legal appeals, after fee waiver applications rejected

A UNIT of mainboard-listed Vibrant Group's troubled Blackgold International Holdings subsidiary will not go ahead with two appeals in the Chinese courts, after its applications for court filing fee waivers were rejected, the board said on Wednesday.

Chongqing Heijin Industrial was among the parties held liable by the Nanjing People's Intermediary Court for a debt of 197.8 million yuan (S$39.3 million), as well as outstanding interest and penalties, in a lawsuit brought by the Nanjing branch of China Minsheng Banking Corp.

Vibrant said on Wednesday that the company had no prior knowledge of the alleged contractual disputes over the loan agreements, which saw Chongqing Heijin act as one of the guarantors for a firm called Jiangsu Huayu Energy Group.

Chongqing Heijin is also among eight Vibrant subsidiaries, held through Blackgold, that have been embroiled in a legal suit filed by the Chongqing branch of China Minsheng Banking Corp in the Chongqing People's High Court. That case, disclosed in September, involves a 500 million yuan loan facility.

"For the avoidance of doubt, the group (excluding members of the Blackgold Group) has not provided any guarantee or security in respect of any bank borrowings, loans, debts or other liabilities of the Blackgold Group and there is no recourse from Minsheng Nanjing to the group (excluding members of the Blackgold Group) in relation to the disputes," Vibrant's board said on Wednesday.

Vibrant shed 0.1 Singapore cent or 0.6 per cent to S$0.167 before the latest announcement.