Farstad dropper rescue attempt with Siem – Dagens Næringsliv

Farstad Shipping and Kristian Siem-controlled Siem Oil Service Invest has not been able to find a redningsløsning that all creditors can accept. The preliminary agreement between the Siem and Farstad is therefore terminated.

– Farstad will pursue other options for its financial restructuring in continued collaboration with its financial key-the creditors, named in a notice to the Oslo stock Exchange.

– Why did not the negotiations?

I can not comment on the details around this, but the essence of what we are saying is that we do not come to a consensus about totalpakken from a total picture. There it is, ” says the managing director of Farstad Shipping, Karl-Johan Bakken.

– Where the road goes on for Farstad now?

I can’t comment on now, and that I will come back when I have a concrete, solid basis.

Farstad Shipping, which has platform-supplybåter and ankerhåndteringsfartøyer in its fleet, has been badly hit by oljeprisfallet and the lower level of activity, including in the north Sea. Dagratene has fallen, and more and more boats has been put in circulation, in anticipation of better times.

Agreement went out

At the end of november notified the company that it had come to an agreement with the London-based investor Kristian Siem of an agreement whereby Siem scroll up and becomes the new storeier, provided that the agreement with the creditors in place.

Farstad Shipping has added many of their boats in circulation, here at the Humla outside Ålesund. Photo: Per Ståle Bugjerde

Several banks should have been willing to do on the part of the debt to new shares in Farstad and it is notified that the bondholders have to take a loss, but no details from the restruktureringsforslaget was known.

Before christmas, notified Siem and Farstad that the formal agreement had run out, but they continued to work to find a solution.

Constructive conversations are ongoing with all affected creditors, named in the message, where it also emerged that the company – which until that time had paid the interest but not the repayments, also dropped to pay the interest on the debt.

Still standstill

Farstad has already been agreed with the lenders who have a security mortgage for their requirements, whether that crisis-hit company shall not service their debt – a so-called stillstandsavtale. It means that he held neither pay principal nor interest.

How long can you keep it going?

– It depends on the situation around the company. I want to emphasize that we have good support from all the creditors and you are in agreement about the decisions that are taken, ” says Hill.

– the time aspect should I be careful with to indicate. The direction is straightforward and that we arrive at a solution, I have good faith in. It is probably wise to use plenty of time to come up with a solution, ” he says. The ground do not want to comment on whether or not the company is in conversations with other actors about a solution for the company.

the Company will otherwise maintain operations as a discontinued operations. All providers and trading partners will get paid as usual, called it in the message.

Uncertainty about the milliardgjeld

Farstad Shipping has a debt of nok 1.4 billion and an interest-bearing debt nok 11.5 billion. The company was subject to the bondholders accepted the redningsplanen and deleted their loans to the company against settlement in shares.

According to sources who know gjeldsforhandlingene, are the largest bondholders in Farstad Shipping of norway, Danish and Finnish høyrentefond and institutional pension fund. One of the bondholders is Alfred Berg.

portfolio manager Tom Hestnes in Alfred Berg says that they are insider in gjeldsforhandlingene and therefore can not comment on the case.

I have no comment to this, ” says Hestnes.

He has previously stated to the DN that the bondholders were not informed about how the huge losses they must take, when Siems redningsplan was presented in november of last year.

Akershus intercommunal public service pension fund (AIPK) is among the larger pension funds that have invested in offshorerederier. The fund was critical to the banks ‘ solution in Havilah, and voted first against the gjeldsløsningen where the bondholders finally accepted a loss of 85 percent of the bond debt.

Managing director Øyvind Stjernfeldt the Gorge in the AIPK will not tell whether the fund is a bond holder in Farstad Shipping.

We are commenting not enkeltinvesteringer, ” says Gorge.