Viking Offshore inks pact for proposed S$5m placement
Business Times MON, JAN 13, 2020 - 11:07 AM
FIONA LAMfiolam@sph.com.sg@FionaLamBT
VIKING Offshore and Marine has entered into a conditional placement agreement with two parties to facilitate its court-supervised debt restructuring.
The Catalist-listed distressed offshore and marine system solutions provider is proposing to raise S$5 million by placing out 66.5 per cent in new shares to Ruddin Advisory and Blue Ocean Capital Partners.
It had signed a term sheet with both parties in November for the deal. Ruddin Advisory will subscribe for a 53 per cent stake in the enlarged share base for S$4 million, while Blue Ocean will take a 13.5 per cent stake for S$1 million.
The enlarged share capital takes into account new shares to be issued to Viking Offshore’s creditors as part of a proposed scheme of arrangement, the company said on Monday.
The proposed scheme will include a debt write-off of a specified percentage of the face value of the debts owed to creditors, and payment to creditors of the balance amount in cash and/or new shares. Details of this scheme will be announced when it is finalised.
About 62 per cent of the proceeds from the placement will be used to repay debts under the scheme, and 20 per cent will fund the group’s working capital needs. Some 14 per cent will go into paying professional fees and expenses, while 4 per cent will be applied to the payment of transactional costs and expenses.
Viking Offshore will seek shareholders’ approval for the proposed placement and scheme at an extraordinary general meeting to be convened.
The company’s debt moratorium is in place until April 12, 2020.
Ruddin Advisory is a Hong Kong-incorporated private company which provides business advisory services to a diversified client base that includes corporations, governments and high net worth individuals, Viking Offshore said. Ruddin Advisory’s sole shareholder is Malaysian businessman and venture capitalist Larry Tey Por Yee.
Blue Ocean is a Singapore-incorporated private company which offers corporate consultancy, in particular on mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and corporate restructurings.
The sole shareholder and executive director of Blue Ocean is Daniel Lin Wei, who is the son of Viking Offshore’s executive chairman, Andy Lim. Mr Lim had introduced Blue Ocean to Viking Offshore. Mr Lim’s cousin is also the spouse of Viking Offshore’s chief executive officer and executive director, Ng Yeau Chong.
The proposed issuance and allotment of the placement shares to Blue Ocean constitutes an interested-person transaction under Catalist rules. The audit committee of Viking Offshore will obtain an opinion from an independent financial adviser on the proposed placement.
Shares of Viking Offshore have been suspended from trading since June 14, 2019.