Sound Point, BlueBay, Cheyne Sued by Italian Ferry Firm Moby

(Bloomberg) -- Ferry operator Moby SpA is suing a number of bondholders including Sound Point Capital Management in a New York court, alleging they made unlawful attempts to take control of the firm in a debt dispute.

Moby, which runs routes between the Italian mainland and islands such as Sardinia, says a bondholder group which also includes BlueBay Asset Management, and Cheyne Capital Management, attempted an “egregious tortious interference” to “unlawfully” take control of the company, according to documents filed on February 22. It’s now seeking damages from the funds.

Spokespeople for BlueBay and Cheyne declined to comment. Representives for Sound Point didn’t reply to emails seeking comment.

The company has been locked in negotiations with bondholders since 2019 as falling freight traffic left it struggling to keep up with interest payments on its debt. Bondholders made an unsuccessful attempt to push the company into insolvency in September 2019.

Over the last three months, the investors rejected two separate restructuring proposals. The latter would have earned the funds “approximately five times” their investment in the notes, the company said in the lawsuit.

Moby also said that the group “improperly instructed” agent UniCredit SpA to deny the release of mortgages on some vessels that it planned to swap with a Danish operator in 2019, in a deal that would have helped reduce its debt load.

A spokesperson at UniCredit declined to comment on the case.

The bondholders’ position eventually triggered a liquidity crisis that forced the company to file for a court-supervised restructuring procedure in Milan last year, Moby said.

Read more: Moby Vessel Swap With DFDS Canceled as Lenders Deny Consent

A representative for Moby confirmed the lawsuit against bondholders in an email to Bloomberg News, adding that the company is still aiming for a consensual agreement with the funds.

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