Strategic Finance mulling the Hanover route as receivership threat loo

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Strategic Finance is mulling over a similar debt-for-equity route that got Hanover Finance and its associated companies out of trouble last year as the threat of receivership hangs over its head.

Thursday, February 11th 2010, 10:11PM 4 Comments

by Paul McBeth

The finance company sparked two event reviews last month after it missed its first repayment to investors and had to increase its provisions for bad loans to less than three-quarters of the principal monies owed to debenture holders, depositors, and subordinated note holders, and has been in negotiations with trustee Perpetual Trust over its future since then.

Chief executive Kerry Finnigan told depositrates.co.nz that they are looking at more than six proposals to save it from collapsing, including a debt-for-equity option much like the $400 million Hanover-Allied Farmers deal last year.

"The proposals fall pretty much into two camps - one looks at us as distressed debt for the interested parties and is not necessarily in the best outcome for investors, while the other is a debt-for-equity and cash component," he said. "We have quite a bit of opportunity to try and get a good result for our investors."

Finnigan said Strategic has been in weekly discussions with Perpetual Trust to ensure they are making progress and to keep it abreast of the situation.

"We don't think receivership delivers the best result for our investors" though ultimately it will be up to the trustee to make that call, he said.

Finnigan said they are working through the proposals and he expects to make an announcement in the foreseeable future.

The finance company went into a moratorium at the end of 2008 after it had frozen repayments to some 15,000 investors who are owed about $325 million.

Paul is a staff writer for Good Returns based in Wellington.

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