OPI Pacific Finance sent to receivers after ruling

OPI Pacific Finance sent to receivers after Queensland court ruling

By Paul McBeth

Sept. 17 (BusinessWire) – OPI Pacific Finance Ltd., better known as MFS Pacific Finance, has been placed in receivership by its trustee following a Supreme Court ruling in Queensland that the parent company be put into liquidation.

Trustee Perpetual Trust appointed PricewaterhouseCooper’s Colin McCloy and Maurice Noone as receivers on Tuesday, ending the 16-month moratorium for the finance company. As well as realising the value in the company’s remaining assets, McCloy and Noone will investigate whether it will be possible to obtain future payments from parent company Octaviar Ltd and other parties.

“The decision to appoint receivers follows the Supreme Court of Queensland’s order that Octaviar Limited, over which OPI had a put option, be put into liquidation,” said Matthew Lancaster, head of corporate trust at Perpetual. “The trustee’s opinion is that a receivership is now appropriate and in the best interests of OPI’s investors.”

Investors who signed up to the moratorium last May have been paid 22.17 cents in the dollar, with secured debenture holders still owed $200.1 million and unsecured noteholders $56.7 million. At the time of moratorium, the New Zealand firm owes $256.7 million to secured debenture holders and a further $56.7 million to unsecured noteholders.

McCloy said it’s too early to provide detailed information about the company’s state, and the receivers will file their first report on Nov. 26.

In March this year, the Supreme Court in Brisbane upheld a claim by Public Trustee of Queensland, a creditor of Octaviar, that entities that had formal agreements with the Australian company weren’t the only secured creditors.

Under a put option, Octaviar agreed to cover losses relating to OPI Pacific loans, which the group said, if exercised at the time of the moratorium would currently amount to only $43.4 million.

OPI investors were told at the time of the moratorium they should recover their capital under the three-year plan, but the finance company refused to make any guarantee on future payments.

(BusinessWire)

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