Ratings agency Fitch has downgraded the credit of China Fishery, the parent company of Pacific Andes, and one of its executive directors resigned on Thursday, 7 July, following the company’s declaration of bankruptcy on 30 June.
Fitch Ratings downgraded China Fishery Group’s issuer default rating from “RD” to “D,” the agency’s lowest possible rating. China Fishery’s previous “RD” rating indicated it had experienced an uncured payment default on a loan, while its new “D” rating implies the company has gone into bankruptcy and that its debts are in danger of imminent default.
“The downgrade follows China Fishery's announcement on 30 June that the company and its subsidiaries had filed for US bankruptcy protection under Chapter 15 and Chapter 11 of the US bankruptcy code,” Fitch said in a press release. “The bankruptcy filing will facilitate a debt restructuring arrangement with holders of the USD 300 million (EUR 270 million) senior unsecured notes issued by CFG Investment S.A.C., China Fishery's financing vehicle. China Fishery failed to pay a coupon on the notes that was due on 30 January, 2016.”
Fitch said it will reevaluated China Fishery’s credit profile if it successfully restructures its debt.
Meanwhile, China Fishery Executive Director and Chief Restructuring Officer Paul Jeremy Brough resigned from his positions, the company announced in a filing with the Singapore Stock Exchange. Brough, a member of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants and a former chief restructuring officer of Emerald Plantation Holdings Limited, as well as a non-executive director of two other Singapore-listed companies, had only started his positions on 21 January, 2016.
“As a result of the Company’s decision to implement the new initiatives in its restructuring process announced to the SGX on 1 July 2016, Mr. Brough tendered his resignation as it was not possible for him to discharge his primary mandate as Chief Restructuring Officer,” the company said in its announcement. The resignation is effective to 30 June, the date of the company’s bankruptcy filing.
