CL denies reneging on payment schedule
Published:Wednesday | October 5, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Trinidad's CL Financial Group has denied reneging on its offer of a partial payment on the US$342 million owed to noteholders in Jamaica and T&T.
CL Financial said Jamaican noteholders can still access US$20 million payment up to Thursday and secondly that another US$20 million tranche would become available by December 31, according to a statement issued last night that quoted both its CEO Marlon Holder and subsidiary Lascelles de Mercado's managing director Fraser Thornton.
CL said it had initially changed the offer on October 3 after an unsolicited proposal suggesting a different arrangement.
"CL wishes to make it very clear that it has reverted to the first offer and that the US$20 million sitting in the trustee's account is available for payment to all noteholders who wish to transfer their notes to CL Limited," the conglomerate said.
The Jamaican notes are said to represent about 12 per cent of the value of the bonds.
Bondholders wanting to be paid can offer up their notes to either the trustee or Lex Caribbean, the attorneys for CL/Lascelles, said CL Financial.
Black Sand Acquisition Group, a rival group of investors, are bidding to acquire Lascelles shares in lieu of payment of the bond. Black Sand, led by former Lascelles managing director, William McConnell, has bid for not less than 90 per cent of Lascelles' ordinary shares and 100 per cent of the two preference stocks. Black Sand said it intends to stabilise the operations of Lascelles and its subsidiaries.