The shipyards MV Werften and Lloyd Werft, which belong to Genting, filed for bankruptcy on Monday.
The trading suspension continues
Trading in Genting HK shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has been suspended since Friday.
Genting HK said that in addition to accessing the €78m backstop, it has attempted to access various alternative sources of liquidity under existing contractual commitments, including a €108m milestone call for Global Dream. The cruise operator said export credit agency Euler Hermes refused to confirm insurance coverage required under the loan facilities for the newbuild, resulting in banks not releasing the milestone payment.
Global Dream’s new financing proposal also controversial
Subsequently, Genting HK said additional conditions were imposed by Euler Hermes as part of a new Global Dream funding proposal. This would require more funding from Genting, but the cruise operator claimed it had already made its contributions, which are required as a condition of the grant.
So Genting went to court, which didn’t sit well with German lawmakers, who said discussions would continue.
No access to meaningful new liquidity
Genting HK also said it continues to work with senior ministers in the German government, including a recent meeting on Friday, and with its controlling shareholder (a KT Lim company), which has offered to match its already-drawn $30 million group funding to increase to $42 million. However, the group said it was unable to access any significant new liquidity and had “exhausted all reasonable efforts to negotiate with the relevant counterparties under their funding arrangements”.
Genting added its board is speaking to its bankers, its shareholder partner in Dream Cruises Holding Limited, an indirect non-owned subsidiary of the company, and its professional advisers to assess the options available to the group.
