Following noteholder‘s critical feedback S[ds_preview]ingapore based Rickmers Trust (RTM) announced a revised restructuring plan and a new offer to holders of its 100 mill. SGD (74 mill. $) bond due to mature in May 2017 to »avoid liquidation / total loss on the notes«.
»One of the key suggestions raised at the informal meeting was for a more substantial debt to equity swap«, said Soeren Andersen, Chief Executive Officer of RTM.
»We can’t be sure that unitholders will approve the dilution, but we will try.«
RTM will seek the approval of noteholders to amend the bonds with a partial redemption of 60 mill. SGD of the principal in exchange for 60% of the enlarged units of the Trust. This would reduce the outstanding principal amount to an aggregate of 40 mill. SGD repayable in November 2023. In addition, RMT is set to issue some 1.32 bill. new shares, representing 150% of the current number of units outstanding of the Trust.
»If not executed within a short period of time, industry conditions
and the Trust’s liquidity position may preclude a consensual solution by all of us«
Tomas Norton de Matos, Chief Financial Officer of RTM
Prior to the proposed restructuring plan RMT offered to exchange the existing principal amount of 100 mill. for 28 mill. $ of perpetual notes with no maturity date that would have been convertible to 20% of the shares of the company.
RMT is backed up by Rickmers Holding (Hamburg) with 34.2% of the units in the trust. Approval of bondholders could pave the way for a new loan facility of about 260.2 mill $ from the senior lenders of the HSH syndicate (HSH Nordbank and DBS Bank), which would extend the maturities of a large part of the trust’s secured bank debts to the first quarter of 2021.
Rickmers Maritime owns and operates a portfolio of 16 containerships ranging in size from 3,450 TEU to 5,060 TEU, offering a total capacity of 66,410 TEU. The vessels are chartered to leading container liner companies including CMA CGM, Maersk Line, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. and MSC.
Only four weeks ago both Rickmers brothers (Erck and Bertram) announced that they stopped merger plans for the ship management divisions of E.R. Schiffahrt and Rickmers Holding, which would have seen the formation of a combined fleet of more than 220 boxships, bulkers and multipurpose (MPP) vessels.
