Why did board not consider JM or creditor scheme before winding-up move?

ON July 28 2016, the Singapore market reacted to the shocking news that Swiber Holdings Ltd, a mainboard-listed offshore and marine business, had applied to the High Court of Singapore to voluntarily wind up the company. Swiber had also announced the appointment of provisional liquidators and the resignation of three executive directors. Subsequently, on 29 July 2016, Swiber announced it and its subsidiary, Swiber Offshore Construction Pte Ltd, have taken out applications to place themselves under judicial management.

The news on 28 July badly affected the share prices of offshore and marine companies listed on the Singapore Exchange and caused banks such as DBS and UOB to release public statements on their exposure to Swiber's default.

For any company (not least a publicly traded company), liquidation is almost always the avenue of last resort, after the management has exhausted all other possibilities. Winding-up leaves all stakeholders in a worse-off position: employees lose their jobs, creditors seldom recover the full value of the monies owed, and shareholders (who rank last in distribution of the company's assets) likely lose the value of their investments. For a publicly traded company, the shock of the liquidation news also hurts market sentiment and investors' confidence in the sector in which the company operates.