Sharechat Logo

Agria gets extension of time to repay $10 mln LIC loan

Tuesday 30th October 2012

Text too small?

Livestock Improvement Corp has granted an extension to Agria on the Chinese company's $10 million loan it used to help it take control of PGG Wrightson.

"To give Agria time to source additional funds to enable repayment, the payment date for these amounts has been extended," LIC said in a statement.

"The effect of that extension is that an amount equal to not less than 50 percent of the loan extended by LIC will fall due for payment on 19 December."

The balance is due in March 2014 and interest rates have been adjusted up on the loan to reflect the extension, LIC said.

The first payment had been due this week. LIC, which sells bull semen and provides a dairy genetics database, said last week it was in talks with Agria and its senior lender about the loan.

LIC stumped up the loan as part of Agria's $144 million partial takeover of local rural services company Wrightson.

The loan was made on commercial terms and granted LIC a director on the Agria unit that holds a 50.1 percent stake in Wrightson.

The New Zealand company wrote the loan to support Wrightson's agritech businesses, and to provide LIC an opportunity to find a Chinese distribution partner. Earlier this month, Agria said it was seeking to extend a $25 million facility with its New Zealand bank to repay LIC , which if provided would restrict the bull semen vendor's ability to enforce security if it wasn't repaid by the end of October.

LIC's shares last traded at $4.95 yesterday on the small-cap NZAX, where only its members can trade them. Agria has been in breach of NYSE listing standards by failing to maintain an average closing price of US$1 a share over a consecutive 30-trading-day period, and has until late January to meet that requirement.

BusinessDesk.co.nz



  General Finance Advertising    

Comments from our readers

No comments yet

Add your comment:
Your name:
Your email:
Not displayed to the public
Comment:
Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved.

Related News:

SML - Synlait Milk Limited - Trading Halt of Securities
AIA - Auckland Airport announces board chair changes
AIA - Auckland Airport announces board chair changes
CEN - Tauhara commissioning progress update
FPH initiates voluntary limited recall
March 28th Morning Report
KFL Celebrates 20 Years of Excellence in Investment Mgmt.
SVR - Savor FY24 Earnings Guidance & Change in Banking Partner
NZK - NZ King Salmon Investments Limited FY24 Results
March 27th Morning Report