Delay Puts Swc Creditors In A Spot
A majority of the creditors who have given their approval for the credit repayment plan put forward by liquor major Shaw Wallace & Co are on tenterhooks owing to the delay in getting consent for the scheme.
The hearing on the case at Calcutta High Court remained inconclusive yesterday. "We are extremely concerned about the dues which we have to recover from Shaw
Wallace & Co. In fact we are losing out on a lot of interest.
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The scheme is suitable to us but the delay in the getting the plan approved is definitely upsetting our plans," said one of the creditors on conditions of anonymity:
When contacted a SWC spokesperson said: "A normal creditor will only be interested in realising his dues from a debtor in trouble. This is clearly not the case here."
Among the creditors awaiting repayment of the dues are Mumbai-based Videocon, Colgate, Bennett Colman & Co, Datasoft Applications, Vimal Dyes & Chemicals, Mohta & Heckel, Libaas Impex, Calcutta-based Vashisht Chai Vyapar and Kamini Finance.
The creditors who have opposed the scheme and have suggested an alternate one are Hindustan Development Corporation, Peerless General Finance & Investment, ITW Signode and Kirloskar Investment & Finance.
The suggestion of a handful of creditors for formulating a new scheme has queered the pitch for the vast majority of 191 inter-corporate deposit holders and bill-discounting creditors that have been awaiting settlement of their dues under a compromise arrangement suggested by the liquor major over six months ago.
The small creditors seem a worried lot. Many of them apprehend that they may not be able to realise their dues as the new arrangement will have to secure the mandate of at least 75 per cent of the creditors present and voting.
Many of them believe that the chances of such an eventuality are rather bleak given the lack of necessary numerical strength among those who have suggested the alternate plan.
It may just be possible that the entire compromise exercise may go into a tailspin. Sources also point out that conversion of debt into equity as suggested by the alternate plan may call for approval of the Securities & Exchange Board of India and other shareholders of the company including financial institutions.
Meanwhile, the hearing of the application filed at the Calcutta High Court by Shaw Wallace & Co for confirmation of the repayment scheme to its creditors remained inconclusive in the court of Justice S K Singha yesterday.
SWC's scheme which has already received the nod from 75 per cent of its creditors has been opposed by some major creditors which are claiming a total of Rs 263 crore from the liquor major.