Landmarks' Andaman Resorts placed under receivership after defaulting on OCBC loan

• The group said in a bourse filing that OCBC has proceeded to appoint Khoo Siew Kiat and Lim Keng Peo of Deloitte Restructuring Services PLT as the "joint and several receivers and managers over the assets and undertakings of ARSB", whose assets have a net book value of RM25.8 million.

KUALA LUMPUR (July 6): Landmarks Bhd said its wholly owned Andaman Resorts Sdn Bhd (ARSB), which in March defaulted on its financing facilities totalling RM133.37 million from OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Bhd, has been placed under receivership.

The group said in a bourse filing that OCBC has proceeded to appoint Khoo Siew Kiat and Lim Keng Peo of Deloitte Restructuring Services PLT as the "joint and several receivers and managers over the assets and undertakings of ARSB", whose assets have a net book value of RM25.8 million.

And via its lawyers, the bank had, through a letter dated July 5, communicated that "all timelines stand lapsed and/or have been breached and OCBC asserts that they are 'not in any position to agree to any additional time'".

This, Landmarks said, is despite its efforts to communicate to the bank that ARSB is seeking potential funding options to rebuild The Andaman, its luxury resort in Langkawi, Kedah that was razed by a fire that broke out in January 2021.

ARSB is also engaged in negotiations with "a reputable private equity fund management company" which it hopes would provide a bridging loan to refinance ARSB's existing loan with OCBC, and that it is preparing an investment paper, it said.

At the same time, ARSB has engaged a new insurance claims specialist — Sterling Insurance Brokers Sdn Bhd — to replace the one terminated previously, to continue its negotiations with its insurer MSIG Insurance (Malaysia) Bhd on its fire insurance claim, Landmarks added.

It further said that the appointment of the receivers and managers does not include or extend to the group at this juncture and has no material impact on its business — both financially and operationally.

"In the meantime, ARSB will continue its ongoing negotiations with their insurance company through Sterling and the potential funding options for the rebuilding of The Andaman," Landmark added. 

Landmark shares closed unchanged at 12.5 sen on Thursday (July 6), giving the group a market capitalisation of RM83.9 million.