KUALA LUMPUR (June 6): The High Court has granted Sapura Energy Bhd (KL:SAPNRG) a nine-month extension to the convening and restraining orders that the group obtained from the court in March 2024, to allow it to continue to work out a debt restructuring scheme with its creditors.
The convening and restraining orders granted to the group in March 2024 are set to expire on June 10, 2024.
This is the third set of convening and restraining orders that the group obtained from the court since March 2022.
The latest orders, which will be in effect from June 11 this year till March 10, 2025, effectively shields Sapura Energy and its subsidiaries from action by creditors so that they can continue to meet and discuss with them to get approval for a proposed scheme of arrangement and compromise without being disrupted by the threat of litigation.
The extension was granted by High Court (commercial division) judge Wan Muhammad Amin Wan Yahya following online proceedings on Thursday.
The outcome was confirmed by Sapura Energy’s counsel Saheran Suhendran when contacted by The Edge.
The group is also currently being shielded by an informal standstill granted by the Corporate Debt Restructuring Committee (CDRC), which shields it from actions from its multi-currency financing creditors, till June 10.
The court orders, sanctioned under the Companies Act 2016, allow Sapura Energy to take critical steps for its debt restructuring plan through MCF of approximately RM10.8 billion and outstanding payments to trade creditors to a sum of RM1.5 billion.
The company had said in March that CDRC’s decision had considered the current state of progress of the group’s proposed restructuring scheme, and the second extension that the group obtained from the court to convene meetings with creditors for its debt restructuring and to restrain them from taking legal action against it.
The Practice Note 17 (PN17)-status company, in which Permodalan Nasional Bhd holds a 41.10% stake, was thrown a lifeline last December when at least 75% of the financiers of its approximately RM10.3 billion MCF facilities provided it the requisite approval-in-principle for its proposed debt restructuring scheme.
Sapura Holdings Sdn Bhd, its former controlling shareholder, currently owns a 9.18% stake in the company.
The debt-laden oil and gas group’s share price closed at four sen on Thursday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM735 million.