ASB presses SEC for okay of rehab plan

The debt-saddled ASB Group has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to give the go-signal for the property firm’s rehabilitation plan ahead of the Feb. 28 debt suspension deadline and avoid the foreclosure of its assets by its bank creditors.

SEC director Eugenio Reyes said ASB’s request was premised on the entry of a "white knight" – the Hong Kong-based Chevalier International Holdings Ltd. – which has agreed in principle to infuse capital into the company to jumpstart its rehabilitation.

The SEC has granted the Luke Roxas-controlled property company a 60-day extension, or until Feb. 28, on the payment of roughly P9 billion in debts, which was supposed to expire at end-2000. ASB sought debt relief from the SEC in May last year as it defaulted on its bank loans and scrambled to pay off claims by other creditors due to the depressed state of the country’s real estate industry.

Reyes said while ASB’s unsecured creditors have given their support to the rehabilitation plan, majority of the secured creditors, mostly banks which have the biggest loan exposure, are still lukewarm on the proposal.

The banks contesting the rehabilitation program are United Coconut Planters Bank, Philippine National Bank, BPI-Far East Bank and the Development Bank of Singapore. ASB also owes Allied Bank, China Bank, Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., Equitable Bank and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.

Aside from the equity infusion, the ongoing talks between ASB and Chevalier have centered on three alternative options in settling the property firm’s obligations to its creditors.

These options are: a) the outright payment of 60 percent of its 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 assets (condominiums) developed by ASB.

ASB has a string of condominium projects under various stages of construction in Metro Manila. These include the BSA Twin Towers, Garden Heights, the ASB-Malayan Tower and Legaspi Place.