Benakat hopes to reach debt restructuring deal latter this year

By Brigida Ernestina Elu Wea

IDX-listed PT Benakat Integra Tbk hopes to reach a debt restructuring agreement with creditor Credit Suisse AG Singapore latter this year.

Benakat Finance Director Michael Wong said that the company was seeking to extend the maturity of its debt to the creditor by another three years with a lower interest rate ?We?ll conclude (the debt restructuring) at the end of this year. We hope to get lower interest rate,? he said on Thursday.

Benakat through subsidiary Nixon Investments Pte Ltd borrowed US$366.32 million from the creditor with interest rate of 12 percent per year. The debt is set to mature at the end of this year.

Meanwhile, Kontan quoted Michael as saying that the company was also seeking to restructure another $100 million worth of debt by the end of this year through refinancing mechanism.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak