Court postpones bankruptcy case

JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta Commercial Court has postponed on the bankruptcy proceedings against publicly listed poultry company PT Anwar Sierad after its creditors approved its tentative debt restructuring proposal.

With the approval, Anwar Sierad will have 270 days to settle its debt problem with its creditors, Nasrulah Abdullah of Lucas & Partners law firm, which represents one of the creditors, said on Monday.

"If the company fails to reach a debt restructuring agreement within the period, it will be immediately declared bankrupt," said Nasrulah.

A Hong Kong-based leasing firm filed a bankruptcy suit against Anwar Sierad at the court in September for failing to repay US$2 million in matured promissory notes.

Prior to the court's verdict, Anwar Sierad filed a request for debt postponement.

According to the 1998 Bankruptcy Law, a company facing a bankruptcy suit can be temporarily exempted from the suit by filing a debt postponement request to the court, subject to majority approval from all the creditors.

If the request is approved, the company is given 270 days for its debt restructuring proposal to be approved and signed by all its creditors.

Anwar Sierad is involved in raising chickens, producing chicken feed and trading in poultry farming equipment.

The company is 50.01 percent owned by PT Sietek Nusantara Finance and the rest by the public.

Meanwhile, nationalized Bank Niaga has also sued coconut oil manufacturer PT Asap Abadi Coconut Oil Industry Company and its parent company PT Hasil Karsa Perdana for failure to repay total matured working capital loans of some $34 million and Rp 52 billion ($7.6 million), according to the bank's lawyer.

Mulyadi from Rufinus Hotmaulana, Andrey & Partners law firm said on Monday the defendant failed to offer to his client an acceptable debt restructuring proposal.

"We have to file the bankruptcy claim to preserve Bank Niaga's rights in collecting the matured loans," he said, adding that the loan matured between Feb. 28, 1997, and May 31, 1998.

The first hearing in the case was scheduled for Tuesday, Mulyadi added.

According to court document No. 82/Pailit/1999, there were two foreign parties who jointly filed a bankruptcy case last week against PT Putra Sejahtera Persada (PSP).

Hong Kong-based Corum Overseas Development Inc. and a Singaporean citizen named Leong Mun Khuen Michael have also filed a bankruptcy petition against PT Putra Sejahtera Persada (PSP), a Jakarta-based property developer, for failure to repay its debts.

PSP owes Rp 73 billion to the Hong Kong firm and Rp 44 billion to Leong, both in matured promissory notes, according a court document.

The promissory notes matured between Dec. 22, 1998, and March 3, 1999, the document said. (udi)