UTICO' S proposed rescue deal for Hyflux remains on the table, and the Emirati firm is suggesting a virtual town hall be held between next Wednesday and Saturday for investors of the water treatment firm' s perpetual securities and preference shares (PnP).

 

In a press statement on Thursday, the suitor said it would " once again like to reaffirm" its offer for Hyflux, as the beleaguered Singapore company and the Securities Investors Association (Singapore) or Sias were still " non-committal" .

 

" We remain available for engagement with PnP holders for a virtual town hall between Oct 7 and Oct 10 to ensure they are convinced and approve of our offer," the Middle Eastern utility added.

 

Last month, Utico again extended the deadline for Hyflux to accept the rescue package, this time to Oct 15, from Aug 30 previously.

 

It said on Thursday that the offers from other potential Hyflux investors - Aqua Munda and Pison Investments - appeared to have expired.

 

The deadline for senior unsecured creditors to offer their debts to Pison was Aug 17, and Pison then had until Sept 25 to accept these offers, The Business Times reported in July. The long-stop date on the deal is Dec 31. Last month, Pison said it had received 158 tender application forms from noteholders and other eligible creditors, but that its efforts to engage with the unsecured working group of seven banks had failed.

 

Meanwhile, Aqua Munda came into the picture with its debt offer last December, and this February it extended the long-stop date to July 17. It then said in June that it was prepared to make an offer to the PnP holders.

 

On Wednesday, Utico managing director Richard Menezes also sent a letter to Hyflux, asking the water treatment company to confirm that both Aqua Munda' s and Pison' s offers had expired and were not renewed.

 

In the letter, which was forwarded to the press, Mr Menezes said Utico' s earlier request for Hyflux to solicit a response from the PnP holders, through Sias, " to understand their amenability for a cash offer (albeit at a reduced level)" , had been based on public announcements to other potential white knights.

 

" We seek your feedback on the foregoing and do not subscribe to the view that this may lead to misunderstanding or confusion," he wrote.

POTENTIAL Hyflux investor Pison Investments on Tuesday said it has received 158 tender application forms from noteholders and other eligible creditors, but that efforts to engage with the unsecured working group (UWG) of seven banks have failed.

 

The UWG - comprising Mizuho, KfW, Bangkok Bank, BNP Paribas, Standard Chartered Bank, CTBC Bank and the Korea Development Bank - in August filed to place Hyflux under judicial management because it no longer wanted Hyflux' s management to lead any restructuring effort.

 

Given the lack of progress in moving matters forward through the UWG' s advisers, Pison said it has reached out to the members of the UWG directly through its invitation adviser Corporate FinEdge.

 

Pison is the investment vehicle of Indonesian businessman Johnny Widjaja. It had in early July made a formal cash offer for the debts of Hyflux' s bank lenders, noteholders and senior unsecured creditors via a reverse Dutch auction. This involves creditors offering to take haircuts on their debt, with payments being made from a S$200 million pool and going to those that offer the largest haircuts first. Pison' s offer is subject to a minimum offered discount of 91 per cent.

 

In a letter on Tuesday addressed to Hyflux' s CEO Olivia Lum, Pison said that it had arranged a townhall meeting on Aug 31 with noteholders via Zoom for Corporate FinEdge to explain the key terms of the invitation and to address questions. More than 40 noteholders attended and the questions were answered by Mr Widjaja. Pison said the noteholders appeared " genuinely interested" in the offer.

 

Notwithstanding that the extended expiration deadline of Sept 4 has passed, Pison said it continues to receive submissions of tender application forms and will admit these late submissions for consideration. It has also received indications from a few significant eligible creditors that they are still in the process of obtaining board and management approval to submit their applications as their internal processes take time. Pison may therefore consider further extending the expiration deadline, it said.

 

Pison has to determine which of the submitted tenders to accept by the deadline of Sept 25, 5pm. It is in the process of reviewing the submissions and will provide an update on the outcome in due course.

 

It added that once it has completed the purchase of a " significant portion" of the eligible debt, it will turn its attention to the holders of the perpetual capital securities and preference shares (P& P holders).

 

It said that it is committed to facilitate " on an expedited basis" a debt restructuring exercise that is fair and equitable to the P& P holders, Hyflux' s shareholders and other stakeholders. It is also " intent on" completing the invitation memorandum and will actively engage with the UWG members and deal with the P& P holders through the Securities Investors Association (Singapore) and its advisers over the next few weeks.

 

" Pison is aware of the tight timelines and the pressure on the Hyflux group to undertake and complete its debt restructuring exercise," it said.

 

" Our position has not changed. We continue to be interested in investing in the Hyflux group. We, together with our advisers, have been working tirelessly on this matter and Pison has incurred much time and costs to date. We believe Pison' s invitation memorandum presents a viable plan for the restructuring of the Hyflux group. Our hope is that... Hyflux, an iconic company in our view, together with the help of Pison, can be rescued and once again flourish."

 

Pison is to make payment for the accepted bids on the settlement date of Oct 23, 2020. The long-stop date on the deal is Dec 31, 2020.

 

Hyflux said that it will make the appropriate announcements when there are further material developments on the matter.

UTICO has extended the deadline for Hyflux to accept its proposed rescue package by 11/2 months to Oct 15, Hyflux said in a filing to the Singapore Exchange on Wednesday night.

 

The water treatment company, attaching a letter it received from Utico on Wednesday about the decision, said it should not be taken to be endorsing, confirming or agreeing with Utico and/or any part of the letter.

 

In the letter, Utico noted that Hyflux did not accept its offer by the deadline of 5pm on Aug 30, nor had it requested for an extension. However, shareholders have requested that Utico extend the deadline because they feel Utico' s offer is " the only viable restructuring plan for Hyflux and has the highest recovery available" .

 

Utico also referred to an e-mail from Hyflux on Tuesday, which requested that the Emirati utilities group revise or adjust its terms to achieve the best possible outcome for creditors. As a result of these requests, Utico decided to extend the period for acceptance.

Is this the white knight that we' re all hoping for?

Positive Creditor Response Sees Pison Extend Offer Deadline

This week Pison Investments Pte Ltd extended their offer for senior creditors to accept their buyout offer of Hyflux Ltd that was launched through their invitation memorandum on 9th  July 2020. The offer for unsecured debts, contingent debts, and/or trade, and other debts of Hyflux Ltd, Hydrochem (s) Pte Ltd, Hyflux Membrane Manufacturing (s) Pte Ltd, and/or Hyflux Engineering Pte Ltd was set to expire on 17 August 2020. However, positive submissions and responses from creditors  seeking additional time to submit their application  saw the deadline extended to 4 September 2020. Pison Investments will have till 25 September 2020 to accept or reject the offers.

The invitation memorandum outlined that each eligible creditor may only submit one bid for an amount of all or some of the eligible debt. The discount set out in the tender application form highlighted that the offer must not be less than 91% on the Offered Debt.

As part of the company&rsquo s  reorganization process under a Scheme Of Arrangement, Hyflux  updated SGX  on Pison Investments' offer extension and will make appropriate announcements as and when there are any further material developments on this matter. Should sufficient creditors step forward and accept Pison Investments offer, Hyflux may just get that lifeline needed to reorganise and start rebuilding the company.

(Source:  https://www.thehomeground.asia/positive-creditor-response-sees-pison-extend-offer-deadline)