Singapore court approves judicial management for troubled Swiber (updated)

Swiber Holdings

06/10/2016 06:18

* Court appoints KPMG as judicial manager 
    * Swiber initially filed for liquidation 
    * Singapore offshore and marine firms hit by oil price drop 
 
 (Adds details from court, context on offshore and marine 
sector) 
    By Fathin Ungku 
    SINGAPORE, Oct 6 (Reuters) - A Singapore court on Thursday 
appointed financial advisory firm KPMG  KPMG.UL  as judicial 
manager for Swiber Holdings Ltd  SWBR.SI , allowing the troubled 
oilfield services firm to be kept under a process through which 
it could be nursed back to health. 
    Swiber applied in July to place itself under judicial 
management. It had initially filed for liquidation as it faced 
hundreds of million of dollars in debt and a decline in orders 
following a drop in global oil prices.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1AF5J6 
    Judicial management allows a financially distressed company 
to be restructured under court supervision rather than the more 
disruptive process of liquidation that reduces the chance of 
creditors recouping money owed.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1AF5J6 
    KPMG was the firm's interim judicial manager. 
    On Thursday, the court heard that none of Swiber's creditors 
had any objection to judicial management. Creditors include 
Singapore's biggest lender, DBS Group Holdings Ltd  DBSM.SI , 
whose exposure to the firm is S$721 million ($526.4 million). 
    The judge suggested forming a committee to deal with 
"creditors as a corporate group rather than (on an) individual 
basis." 
    "Twenty-seven investor expressions of interest have been 
received ... there could be more," Swiber's lawyer Ashok Kumar 
told the court, citing KPMG. 
    Swiber is a part of Singapore's offshore and marine sector, 
which has been pummelled as clients cut spending due to oil 
prices hitting record lows. 
    Several firms in the sector, including oil and gas service 
provider Swissco Holdings Ltd  SWCO.SI  and container ship owner 
Rickmers Maritime  RIMT.SI , have recently sought to restructure 
debt.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nSNZ1Jj8vR  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1BR2JI  
    "Generally, bond yields for this beleaguered sector are 
still showing 20 percent yields - highlighting their continuing 
risks of default," trading strategist Nicholas Teo at KGI 
Securities said in an emailed report. 
    On Wednesday, AusGroup Ltd  AUSG.SI , which provides 
maintenance and construction services to the natural resources 
sector, received support from a majority of bondholders to 
extend the maturity of notes worth S$110 million by two years. 
    ($1 = 1.3696 Singapore dollars) 
 
 (Reporting by Fathin Ungku; Writing by Aradhana Aravindan; 
Editing by Christopher Cushing) 
 ((aradhana.aravindan@thomsonreuters.com; +65 6403 5659; Reuters 
Messaging: aradhana.aravindan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: SWIBER HOLDINGS RESTRUCTURING/