SET-listed Pace Development (PACE) and a wholly owned subsidiary have filed a business rehabilitation plan to continue development of a real estate project and transfer of ownership to customers.
Pace and Pace Country Club (PCC) submitted a rehabilitation petition to the Central Bankruptcy Court on April 24, which was accepted by the Court.
Both Pace and PCC will be the rehabilitation planners.
The preliminary hearing will begin on June 29.
The move is aimed at completing the Nimit Langsuan project, according to the company's statement.
"In the first stage, the financial institution has agreed to funding for the completion of Nimit Langsuan project immediately after the court ordered business rehabilitation for the company and PCC and appointed the company and PCC as rehabilitation planners," Pace said.
The SET-listed developer has had an ongoing financial liquidity problem over the past few years, said chief executive Sorapoj Techakraisri.
In October 2019, Pace was reported to have defaulted on 2.6 billion baht in debt owed to Siam Commercial Bank (SCB).
Pace owes 11 billion baht to SCB for loans and debentures, of which 7 billion baht is collateral-backed borrowing. The company's bondholder meeting last November approved extending the maturity date of the debentures for another three years, from this month to Feb 23, 2023, whereby the issuer can redeem before the maturity date either wholly or in part.
Pace is also the owner of gourmet grocer Dean & DeLuca, whose global business and assets Pace bought for US$140 million in 2014.
Funding for the acquisition came from the company's internal cash flow and loans from SCB.
Matters have taken a twist since the acquisition, as Dean & DeLuca has filed for bankruptcy in the US by asking for court authority to protect the firm from creditors seeking debt payment.
Pace said Dean & DeLuca's operations in Thailand and Asia will be unaffected by the US operation's bankruptcy filing because the local unit has separate accounting.