South Canterbury Finance issues new prospectus

South Canterbury Finance goes to market for debenture investment

By Peter Kerr

Oct. 20 (BusinessWire) - South Canterbury Finance Ltd., the Timaru-based finance company owned by Allan Hubbard, issued a new prospectus for its debenturess and deposits.

Investors will be able to earn a yield of up to 8% per annum, with deposits being accepted for securities with a range of maturities. Investors will have the benefit of the Crown guarantee under its retail deposit guarantee scheme for debenture stocks that mature or become payable before Oct. 11, 2010.

"We have had to attend to a number of matters in recent weeks which caused delays in the registration of the prospectus," Hubbard said in a statement. "We very much appreciate the patience of our loyal investors and customers and look forward to their continued support.”

Hubbard said further announcements will be made “as we evolve our restructuring and recapitilisation plans."

Last week SFC announced it had negotiated to repay the five noteholders in its US$100 million U.S. Private Placement facility over the next five months. It is also in talks with another party to arrange a new $75 million credit facility as it looks to strengthen its balance sheet.

Standard & Poors downgraded SCF to a BB+ credit rating in August, and a little over a month later it was placed on credit watch. The downgrade triggered an "event of review" for SCF for both its banking facility and the U.S. private placement funding.

(BusinessWire)

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