Hanjin takeover talks wrapped up in Oct.

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Creditor banks of Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Philippines (HHIC-Phil) are expected to finish by October negotiations with a group composed of two foreign companies and one local firm keen to take over the operations of its bankrupt shipping facility in Subic.

Wilma Eisma, administrator of Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA)., said the outcome of  discussions between Hanjin’s creditors and the  companies  will be announced by December.

“The creditor banks are the ones leading the negotiation for Hanjin, as we speak they are now in what they call an exclusive(e)discussion with a particular entity already and the hope is  they’ll be able to finish discussion by the end of October and they will be able to announce by December what will be the outcome path for the Hanjin to take,” Eisma told reporters in a sideline interview at groundbreaking ceremonies of Subic Freeport Expressway.

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She declined to  disclose the identities of the companies but said  “there are more than one foreign companies in discussion with the creditor banks and Filipino companies are also very interested.”
.Last January, HHIC-Phil,  the biggest foreign investor in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, filed  a petition at the Regional Trial Court in Olongapo City to initiate voluntary rehabilitation under Republic Act 10142.

The company owes some $400 million in outstanding loans from Philippine banks on top BDO Unibank Inc., Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., Land Bank of the Philippines, Bank of the Philippine Islands, and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) and another $900 million in debts with lenders in South Korea.

HHIC-Phil, which focused on building high-value vessels, was established in 2006 as a subsidiary of Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co., Ltd., a multinational company that provides shipbuilding, construction, and plant services in South Korea and internationally.

After frenzied construction of its 300-hectare shipyard began in May 2006, HHIC-Phil rolled out its first ship, the “Argolikos” in July 2008.

Hanjin had around 30,000 employees at peak season at peak of its operation.

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