MFS New Zealand says negotiations with its Australian shareholder MFS to put together a proposal for 12,000 MFS Pacific Finance debenture holders owed over $300 million are nearly complete but it still can't name a date when investors will know the full details.
The NZX-listed company stopped trading
in January over concerns about the uncertainty surrounding MFS, which owns a 38.8 per cent stake.
It then asked to be suspended when the Australian company could not meet a put option agreement to cover the debts of MFS Pacific Finance, causing the default of $27 million in payments due to be made in January.
MFS New Zealand proposed a moratorium to stop the finance company from going to the receivers and had hoped to have it together by early this month but complications over putting the documents together and reaching a future funding arrangement with MFS have slowed progress.
Yesterday MFS New Zealand said the key terms relating to the proposed moratorium with MFS had been largely completed and it expected to be delivering the documents to its trustee, Perpetual Trust, soon.
But it would not give a date when the documents would be with investors or when meetings would be held to vote on the proposal.
"While the directors remain hopeful that the meetings to consider the proposed moratorium will be able to be held at an early date, there are a number of elements that remain to be finalised," the company said.
Earlier in the week MFS passed a vote to change the company's name to Octaviar after reaching an agreement with an American company which uses the same initials.
From March 31 MFS Pacific Finance will change its name to OPI Pacific Finance.
