Wicaksana signs debt restructuring deal

Wicaksana signs debt restructuring deal

JAKARTA (JP): Publicly listed trading and distribution company
PT Wicaksana Overseas International has entered into a principle
agreement with its creditors to restructure US$126 million in
debts through debt buyback, debt-to-equity swaps and rescheduling
deals.

"We signed a memorandum of understanding on the restructuring
package with the steering committee of our 29 domestic and
foreign creditors on Friday," Wicaksana's corporate finance
manager Elys Karis said on Tuesday.

Wicaksana held a general creditors' meeting here on Tuesday to
finalize the in-principle memorandum of understanding.

The steering committee is chaired by Citibank and consists of
six other banks-- American Express, ANZ Panin, Fuji Bank, HSCB,
ING Bank and Rabobank Duta, the company said.

Karis said Wicaksana's financial adviser, Indo-Sing Business
Advisory (ISBA) of Singapore, was instrumental in bringing the
deal together.

After the restructuring, which is expected to completed in the
first quarter, Wicaksana will be left with a smaller and
sustainable level of loan as its leverage and interest burden
will be reduced to a manageable level, the company added.

"The debt-to-equity swap not only will improve and strengthen
the company's capital structure, but also shows the creditors'
confidence in the future of Wicaksana," said ISBA managing
director Parveen Gandhi.

Gandhi said with bankers expected to become new shareholders
of the company, its good reputation would further be enhanced
which would greatly help Wicaksana to obtain new business and
access to the capital market.

The company said the restructuring process started in
February and intensified with constructive discussions and
meetings since August.

It said the process was greatly helped by its honesty and
transparency to its creditors, who in turn responded with a
supportive attitude.

Wicaksana Overseas, a subsidiary of PT Wiracaksana holding
company, distributes the products of nine multinational companies
-- among them Procter & Gamble, Quaker Oats Asia, Kiwi Brands,
Osram Indonesia and Effem Foods -- and nine national
manufacturing firms, including Indofood Prima, Bintang Toedjo,
Karomatul Amal Ummat, Sumbermas Langgeng Confectionary and Tirta
Sapta Jaya.