Genting Hong Kong has entered into a Bridge Facility Agreement with its majority owner, Chairman and CEO Lim Kok Thay, that will see it granted access to US$30 million in order to boost liquidity.
The Bridge Facility Agreement is linked to the restructuring of almost US$3.4 billion in debt that Genting HK defaulted on during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the company announcing in June that it had agreed a series of new loans and extensions to maturities with lenders on some of that debt.
In a Monday filing, Genting HK said its controlling shareholder and Lim family trustee Golden Hope – which holds 70.91% of issued share capital – had agreed to either make an equity contribution into the company of up to US$30,000,000 by way of a rights issue or to make available a bridge loan of up to US$30,000,000 until the consummation of the rights issue.
The agreement lists Genting HK as borrower, wholly-owned subsidiary Ocean World as guarantor and three more wholly-owned subsidiaries – Crystal Luxury, Crystal Intermediate and Crystal Acquisition – as obligers in the deal.
The company said the Bridge Loan, to be charged at LIBOR plus 9% per annum on a compounded basis, “shall be available solely for the purpose of working capital and curing any breach or forecasted breach of the Minimum Liquidity Covenant” under its debt restructuring.
It added that the COVID-19 pandemic “has had, and continues to have, a material impact on the financial position and results of operation of the Group.”
Genting Hong Kong has been gradually resuming some cruise ship operations, mostly in Asia, since late 2020 and recently announced the resumption of domestic sailings out of Malaysia from 22 December 2021.