The Debt and Asset Trading Corporation (DATC) and Bianfishco asked banks to turn their loans in the firm into contributed capital.
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| Director of DATC (left) and Bianfishco (right) |
The decision was made on June 7, in a meeting of DATC, under the Ministry of Finance with the debt-ridden Binh An Seafood Joint Stock Co (Bianfishco), affected banks and farmers.
According to Tran Van Tri, General Director of Bianfishco, the company owes VND235 billion (USD11 million) to farmers, VND78 billion (USD3.8 million) to enterprises and VND988 billion (USD47 million) to credit organisations.
To deal with the debt and to create capital for business activities, Bianfishco intends to sell 49% of it's stake in its collagen drink factory for VND70 billion (USD3.3 million) and transfer the Binh An Fishery Research Institute, worth approximately VND77 billion (USD3.7 million), to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. It will also sell ornamental trees and others assets, estimated to be worth VND110 billion (USD5.2 million).
Bianfishco also asked the banks to turns loans into contributed capital. DATC would be the head of the restructured company.
If the act is approved, Vietnam Development Bank, in Can Tho-Hau Giang, will have a 15% and BIDV will also have a 15% share.
DATC, ABBANK and Habubank all will have 10%, while 103 individual shareholders will own 15%. The remaining 25% would stay in possession of Bianfishco.
Luong Quang Minh, Director of Vietnam Development Bank in Can Tho-Hau Giang, asked Bianfishco to pay their debt to farmers in full, announce the audit report and hold a general shareholders meeting soon. He also agreed with the solution to turn loan into contributed capital to help the corporation.
Nguyen Tuong Thanh, an attorney who represents two farmers proposed two solutions, "If DATC will buy the debt owed to my clients, about VND18 billion (USD86,000), we will forgive the interest. Or Bianfishco could pay just 50% of the debt, in this case the farmers would consider the rest to the company as contributed capital, but only under one condition: that all the banks involved also make contribution."
However, General Director of DATC, Pham Thanh Quang said it will buy back the debt owed to the farmers. "The factories and the trademark of Bianfishco are still alive." he said.
General director of Bianfishco said after their fisheries factories and value-added plant went into operation, the collagen drink factory also opened again and sold the first batch, worth USD12,720.
