And so it comes to this sad state.
Rickmers played a risky game of poker with its bondholders with one gambit round of SHOWHAND. It offered its bondholders very onerous terms for a "haircut" otherwise there was a high possibility that they would no longer be able to maintain their coupon payments.
However the terms were so onerous that bondholders baulked and called their bluff.
Nov 15, 5.45 pm - The Business Times Singapore reports that the trustee-manager of Rickmers is unable to pay a S$4.26 million interest for its bonds due on 15 Nov 2016. If it fails to do so within the next five business days from today, an "event of default"would occur, which would trigger cross-defaults and/or cross-acceleration clauses in other loan agreements.
Trading in Rickmers Maritime will be suspended until there is further clarity from bondholders who are scheduled to vote for a restructuring of their bond obligations. This is expected between 23 November and 21 December 2016. The earlier meeting of bondholders was unable to take place due to an insufficient quorum.
If only the Management had treated their bondholders with more respect and accorded them with more acceptable terms for restructuring, we may not have ended up with today's sad state of affairs.
