Lee-Chin’s holdcos seek debt extension
AIC (Barbados), Portland (Barbados) and Specialty Coffee Investments Company are seeking extensions on their maturing debt as investors seek to reallocate their principal to other investments.
The Michael Lee-Chin connected companies have all sought extensions through their various trustees in recent weeks as the different bonds mature in 2024. The latest extension sought is being sought by AIC (Barbados) Limited, the direct parent company of the NCB Financial Group (NCBFG), which is requesting an additional year on the bonds that matured on January 31.
“We have been working with Sterling Asset Management Limited to refinance the notes, with limited success in only being able to refinance [a] portion of the notes. We hereby request a one-year extension of the due date for the remaining portion of US$7,860,758.10, specific to the bondholders on the attached spreadsheet, providing a new maturity date of January 31, 2025,” said the April 11 letter signed by Lee-Chin.
The newly proposed rate on the bond is 8.25 per cent up to the new maturity date. The original principal value was US$10 million for tranche 29. Though the original rate is not immediately known, an AIC (Barbados) indexed bond had a seven per cent rate. There is a 6.50 per cent AIC US$ bond coming due in November and a 6.75 per cent AIC US$ bond due in June 2025.
It was also revealed in the
Trinidad Guardian on Tuesday that Portland (Barbados) had missed the final payment of principal and interest on a US$23-million bond which matured on April 30. That bond had an 8.25 per cent interest rate.
A meeting was held by Lee-Chin with investors on Tuesday to discuss extending the bond. This is based on the terms of the trust deed which stipulate May 9 as the deadline for principal, interest and arrears to be paid to avoid a default event.
“We write to you in our capacity as trustee for the captioned facility pursuant to trust deed and supplemental trust deed. The trust deed provides for, among other things, an April 30, 2024 payment date. We wish to advise that principal and interest on the facility, which matured and became due on the April payment date has not been received,” stated a Republic Bank Limited correspondence to investors.
This development comes weeks after a Jamaica Gleaner article which mentioned that Specialty Coffee was seeking to extend the maturity of that bond by three months. Specialty Coffee owns Mavis Bank Coffee Factory. A 7.25 per cent US$ bond is coming due in January 2025.
These different debts are secured by NCBFG ordinary shares as per the term sheets. NCBFG is set to have a dividend consideration meeting tomorrow.
AIC (Jamaica) was attempting to sell the NCB Towers covering 363,639 sq. ft. last July for $6.5 billion. The success of that sale is unknown.
AIC (Barbados) was in court against Verticast Media Group Limited on April 4 under Justice Cresencia Brown Beckford surrounding a share sale agreement contract.
