Singapore’s Distressed Hyflux Faces Court Hearing on Liquidation

(Bloomberg) -- Hyflux Ltd.’s judicial manager will bring a plan to liquidate the Singapore company before a court on Monday, following a years-long saga in one of the city-state’s most high-profile distressed cases.

The hearing comes after the court-appointed manager in charge of the water treatment company since November applied last month to wind up the firm. Judicial manager Borrelli Walsh Ltd. said in a statement in June that “the remaining value” of the Hyflux Group is best realized in a liquidation.

The decision may cap a drawn-out saga around the company, which has left retail investors and creditors holding losses. Hyflux began a court-supervised debt restructuring process in May 2018 and faced about S$2.8 billion ($2.1 billion) of investor claims. It received multiple offers from several bidders along the way, none of which concluded.

One of its suitors, United Arab Emirates-based Utico FZC which has been pursuing the company since 2019, said it will argue against the winding-up plan in the hearing on Monday. Hyflux said last month the judicial manager terminated discussions with Utico as it was unable to meet the conditions required.

The piecemeal sale of Hyflux’s assets has already started, with the company announcing last week that Keppel Infrastructure Trust will acquire from it the remaining 30% stake in a desalination plant for S$12 million. Bloomberg News had reported in June that sales in the liquidation process would likely bring in less than S$200 million, a fraction of the amount creditors are claiming.

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