ASB, HK group mull 3 options

Talks between the beleaguered ASB Group and the Hong Kong-based Chevalier International Holdings Ltd. have turned serious with three options being floated for a possible settlement with ASB creditors.

Sources familiar with the negotiations said Chevalier, whose interests span real estate and other investment ventures, has been discussing with the ASB group three alternative settlement modes before it can proceed with its entry into ASB.

These options include: a) the outright payment of 60 percent of total debts, hence a 40-percent discount; b) a 10-percent payment in cash with the balance to be paid within 10 years; and c) payment in the form of condominiums developed by ASB.

Earlier, it was reported that Chevalier had secured the approval of ASB’s creditor banks for it to infuse an unspecified amount of capital into the troubled local property developer to jumpstart and hasten its rehabilitation plan.

The ASB group has been granted another 60-day reprieve by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the payment of its roughly P9-billion debts.

The ASB Group, controlled by businessman Luke Roxas, is the owner and developer of several real estate projects, mostly condominium projects of which 19 are completed and four, particularly the BSA Twin Tower, Garden Heights, the ASB Malayan Tower and Legaspi Place, are currently under various stages of construction.

In May last year, the group sought refuge at the SEC as it defaulted on its bank debts and scrambled to pay off claims by other creditors due to the depressed state of the real estate sector in the country.

ASB owes P3.9 billion to more than 700 individual creditors and P5 billion to various creditor banks led by Allied Bank, Philippine National Bank, Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., United Coconut Planters Bank, Equitable PCI Bank and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.