French marine services group Bourbon Corporation, which has been in the process of a debt restructuring, said its assets would be taken over by its creditors
The news comes in light of Bourbon’s ongoing legal proceedings. The Commercial Court of Marseille ruled that Bourbon’s assets be transferred to Société Phocéenne de Participations (SPP) on 2 January 2020.
SPP is owned by seven banks: BNP Paribas, Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel Alpes Provence, Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel de Paris et d’Ile de France, Crédit Mutuel Equity SCR, Crédit Lyonnais, Natixis and Société Générale.
The group represents 75% of the group’s debt concerns and 100% of the assets and activities of Bourbon Corporation. It will convert roughly €1.4Bn (US$1.6Bn) of debt into capital and €300M (US$336M) of debt in the form of repayable bonds.
Earlier this month Tidewater and Peschaud submitted offers to the Court to takeover Bourbon but these were rejected.
Bourbon faced financial difficulties after business was disrupted by unstable energy markets. In July 2019, ICBC Leasing, one of Bourbon’s creditors demanded payment of all rentals up to 2026. Reorganisation proceedings began in August after Bourbon was denied insolvency protection from the Commercial Court of Marseille.
UPDATE: Bourbon Corporation’s chief operating officer Gaël Bodénès has resigned from his role following the sale of Bourbon’s assets to a group of creditors.
Bourbon said Mr Bodénès submitted his resignation from his position to the Board of Directors and Jacques de Chateauvieux, the Executive Chairman on 31 December, 2019.
On 7 January 2020, Bourbon said Jacques de Chateauvieux would continue to be responsible for the company’s general management. Gaël Bodénès takes over as Chairman of Bourbon Maritime and retains his other functions within the group.
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