Friday, 6 November 2009

Guangzhao duo’s bankruptcy hearing adjourned

The bankruptcy petition filed by Singapura Finance against the chief executive officer and the chairman of Guangzhao Industrial Forest Biotechnology Group will be heard in the chambers on Jan 14.

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Guanyu said...

Guangzhao duo’s bankruptcy hearing adjourned

Move pending settlement proposals by CEO, chairman

By LYNETTE KHOO
06 November 2009

The bankruptcy petition filed by Singapura Finance against the chief executive officer and the chairman of Guangzhao Industrial Forest Biotechnology Group will be heard in the chambers on Jan 14.

The High Court adjourned the hearing yesterday pending settlement proposals to be submitted by Guangzhao CEO Jack Song and chairman Su Min to Singapura Finance.

Both had pledged shares in Guangzhao as collateral for personal loans and their payment defaults had triggered a series of margin calls in September last year.

A trading halt of Guangzhao shares was imposed on Sept 12 last year to prevent further forced-sale of the pledged shares, which was followed by a trading suspension a week after. The suspension has not been lifted since.

According to affidavits filed by Singapura Finance, the creditor claims that as at Sept 8 this year, Mr. Song owed an aggregate sum of $464,430.28 and Ms. Su $467,018.97, including interest. Mr. Song is a Singapore permanent resident and owns property here.

Guangzhao is also in default of convertible bonds issued to Liberty Harbor, arising from its share trading suspension. Guangzhao was said to have owed Liberty Harbor more than US$8 million under a 3 per cent convertible notes programme that was originally due to mature in 2011.

The group said last month that it was still consulting its appointed agent to expedite the sale of forestry assets to raise cash to repay Liberty Harbor.

Liberty Harbor has given the group a series of time extensions to repay the total outstandings, with the newest deadline being Nov 9.

In August, the group was reminded by the Singapore Exchange (SGX) that it had up to Sept 19 to submit an official proposal on trading resumption to the SGX or risk being delisted. It is not known if such a proposal has been submitted yet. Guangzhao management could not be reached for comment.