SEC extends ASB debt moratorium

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved yesterday the petition of ASB Holdings, Inc. to extend its debt memorandum until the end of February next year to insulate the company from distractions while negotiating with its prospective "white knight."

"There is an ongoing negotiation with a foreign investor which is interested in the rehabilitation of the distressed ASB Group of Companies," said lawyer Eugenio Reyes, head of SEC’s hearing panel.

Reyes added that the extension of debt moratorium would "give the petitioner time to pursue its negotiations with the new prospective investor, unhampered by the claims for payments by the creditors."

The SEC’s approval of the proposed extension of debt payments comes on the heels of an objection to such a petition raised by China Bank, one of ASB’s creditors.

The bank-creditor said that ASB’s rehabilitation plan was not feasible and that any extension of the debt moratorium could jeopardize the interests of the property firm’s creditors.

"The extended period will provide ample time for new members of the hearing panel who were designated after the SEC reorganization last Nov. 30 to intelligently evaluate the merits and demerits of the proposed ASB rehabilitation plan," Reyes said.

Earlier, lawyer Martin Vergel de la Rosa, counsel for the debt-saddled firm whose debt moratorium will expire at the end of this year, said that ASB might revise its rehabilitation plan upon the entry of the "white knight" which the company expects to bail it out.

A ‘white knight’, reportedly based in Hong Kong, expressed its interest in buying the cash-strapped property firm. It has, in fact, sent its representatives to the country to meet with the ASB officials, according to De la Rosa.

De la Rosa also said that as a result of SEC’s reorganization, two of the three members of the hearing panel to which ASB submitted its rehabilitation plan last Nov. 13, retired leaving the commission with two vacancies to fill before judging the case.

Earlier, the property firm’s interim receiver, Monico Jacob, urged the commission to override objections raised by ASB’s secured creditors to its rehabilitation plan and approve the modifications proposed by unsecured creditors.

The receiver pointed out that if the rehabilitation plan be carried out, ASB will benefit from it, along with both secured and unsecured creditors, simply because it will not only jumpstart installment payments, but also restore investor confidence.

The approval of the ASB rehabilitation plan, which has been pending with the commission for over three months now, has met stiff opposition especially from its secured creditors.

The bank-creditors that objected to the rehabilitation plan are United Coconut Planters Bank, Philippine National Bank, BPI-Far East Bank and Trust Co. and Development Bank of Singapore.