Winding up application filed against unit of Ezra's associate

EZRA Holdings said it was notified through a newspaper advertisement on Feb 13 that a Singapore-incorporated company, Necotrans Singapore Pte Ltd, has filed a winding up application against EMAS-AMC Pte Ltd, a wholly owned company of the group's associate Emas Chiyoda Subsea (ECS).

The application was filed with Singapore's High Court on Feb 6 and the hearing is fixed on March 3.

Ezra said it understands that EMAS-AMC is currently seeking advice on the winding up application and is also assessing the impact of the application against EMAS-AMC on the group.

In its regulatory filing late on Tuesday night, Ezra also gave an update on the short-term standstill agreement on repayment of a bareboat charter that EMAS-AMC entered into with Ocean Yield ASA for the months of December 2016 and January 2017.

Its board noted that a stock exchange release was made by Ocean Yield on Monday, saying that Ocean Yield has served a notice of termination related to the bareboat charter of the vessel but Ocean Yield will continue to participate in the discussions regarding a financial restructuring of ECS.

The notice also mentioned Ocean Yield is considering a short-term contract for the vessel to a related company of the Ezra at a reduced rate while a long-term solution is being discussed.

Ezra clarified that it is open to enter into discussions with Ocean Yield in relation to the vessel.

Meanwhile, Ezra is seeking permission from Singapore Exchange for an extension of 60 days, instead of 30 days, to release the financial results for its fiscal first quarter ended Nov 30, 2016.