Last checked at 8 Jan 2020 15:08
8 January 2020
G3 EXPLORATION LTD.
("G3 Exploration", "G3E" or the "Company")
JPL Update
On 11 December 2019, by order of the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands (the "Court") filed on 17 December 2019, the Company was placed into provisional liquidation and Messrs Alexander Lawson and Christopher Kennedy of Alvarez & Marsal Cayman Islands Limited, 2nd Floor Flagship Building, 70 Harbour Drive, George Town, Cayman Islands, KY1-1104, together with Ms Wing Sze Tiffany Wong of Alvarez & Marsal Asia Limited, Rooms 405-7, 4/F, St George's Building, 2 Ice House Street, Central, Hong Kong, were appointed as joint provisional liquidators ("JPLs").
Role of the JPLs
The JPLs are independent officers of the Court. The primary roles of the JPLs are, broadly, to preserve and protect the Company's assets and identify any opportunities which may exist to restructure or refinance the Company.
The Company's application seeking to appoint the JPLs had sought the Court's approval to grant the JPLs and the board of directors of the Company the power to control the subsidiaries of the Company. This aspect of the application was not successful. The subsidiaries of the Company are under the control of the Receivers who were appointed on 9 September 2019 (their appointment was ratified on 21 October 2019) over the shares that the Company holds in Greka Gas China Ltd. pursuant to the first priority share mortgage dated 19 November 2014 in favour of Nordic Trustee. The Receivers subsequently exercised shareholder rights to remove and replace existing directors at the subsidiary entities with individuals from the Receivers' firm.
The JPLs have until 5 February 2020 to explore such possibilities and prepare a report as to the likelihood of a viable restructuring. The JPLs expect to undertake this process in consultation with the Company's existing management and other key stakeholders including the receivers. During this eight-week period, and until further order of the Court, the existing board of directors and management of the Company shall remain in office and may exercise, with the supervision and prior approval of the JPLs, those powers conferred upon it by the Company. To date, the existing board of directors and management have not sought the approval of the JPLs to exercise any of its pre-existing powers and, as such no such approval has been granted by the JPLs.
Next Steps
The JPLs' enquiries (which are already underway), will continue with the JPLs consulting with, and obtaining relevant information from, key stakeholders with a view to determining the possibility of a restructuring (or refinancing) option. The JPLs' findings, and their ultimate recommendation as to the likelihood of a successful restructuring (or refinancing) will be presented to the Court in their report on or before 5 February 2020.
For the avoidance of any doubt, no such restructuring or refinancing has been developed or agreed, however, the JPLs are working with both the Company and the receivers to investigate all potential options.
Should you have any queries, please contact the JPLs via their colleague Carlos Bourgy at cbourgy@alvarezandmarsal.com.