A US court has directed the ‘reorganised Arcapita Bank BSC" to initiate transfer of claims by eligible holders.

Through a notice published in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication yesterday (December 28), AIM Group Limited or RA Group have called on claimants, who have not elected to receive convenience class treatment under the reorganisation plan, to file intent to transfer their claim by January 24 next year, failing which their claim would be forfeited.

The notice cites an order issued by the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on December 9.

The notice said that claimants could choose to receive distribution of securities in the reorganised entity or sell their claims to prospective purchasers.

The prospective purchasers listed in the notice are: Alta Fundamental Advisers, Arsteia Capital, Barclays Bank, Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited, Halcyon Asset management, Morgan Stanley and Company, SC Lowy, Venor Capital Management and VR Capital.

RA Group was created due to the reorganisation of Arcapita Bank and certain of its affiliates under chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code.

In September last year, Bahrain-based Arcapita said it had formally emerged from chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, after nearly 18 months, allowing for an ordered sale of assets to pay off its creditors.

The company had to file for bankruptcy protection in the US courts, after failing to reach agreement with creditors about the restructuring of a $1.1 billion loan.

Under the terms of the reorganisation, approved by the courts last June, the company's investment portfolio is being managed by New Arcapita (legally referred to as AIM Group), led by the existing management team, with the objective of maximising exit values across the portfolio, the company said.

RA Holding, a new entity owned by the creditors, was established to ensure an orderly disposal of assets, in a bid to avoid a fire-sale liquidation.

According to publicly available information, the plan of reorganisation put before the court and ultimately confirmed, proposed to establish a New Cayman Islands holding company, New Arcapita Topco, to own and control a series of newly formed intermediate holdings companies and subsidiaries, the new holding companies.

The plan provided that the new holding companies would own directly or indirectly 100 per cent of the debtors' assets, and in exchange for their allowed claims the majority of the debtors' unsecured creditors would receive a pro rata share of the new Sharia-compliant Sukuk facility, substantially all of the equity of the new holding companies and certain warrants issued by New Arcapita Topco.

When contacted by GDN, Arcapita declined to comment. Representatives of RA Group could not be reached. - TradeArabia News Service