Headlines

A 8,764% surge in the shares of a company with a minuscule public shareholding has prompted India’s regulator to consider changing its rules for firms emerging from the nation’s bankruptcy process, Bloomberg News reported. The Securities & Exchange Board of India has sought comments on a proposal to cut the time given to companies that re-list after bankruptcy resolution to boost the free float to at least 10% within six months from 18 months currently.

There’s mounting scrutiny over the state-owned parent of BMW AG’s joint venture partner in China, Brilliance Auto Group Holdings Co. Investors are increasingly concerned about the Liaoning-based firm’s capacity to juggle its debt load as the pandemic weighs on profits, Bloomberg News reported. Concern is growing about the financial health of Brilliance Auto, the parent of Hong Kong-listed Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd., which manufactures vehicles with the German carmaker in China via a joint venture.

South Africa’s government has started talks with private entities interested in buying into the country’s insolvent national carrier, which needs at least 10 billion rand ($583 million) to resume operations, Bloomberg News reported. A team from the Department of Public Enterprises and advisers from FirstRand Ltd.’s Rand Merchant Bank began negotiations after receiving as many as four promising proposals regarding South African Airways, according to Kgathatso Tlhakudi, the DPE’s director general.

The default rate among junk-rated European companies will more than double by June 2021 as the COVID-19 pandemic brings about “arguably the most pronounced deterioration in credit quality ever”, credit ratings firm S&P Global said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Its warning comes amid a borrowing binge by companies raising money to ride out a massive slowdown in economic activity caused by lockdown measures to fight the spread of the coronavirus.

The collapse of a Mexican lender is spurring concern about risks for the banking system just as the country sinks into its deepest recession in almost a century under the watch of a financial regulator that’s been hobbled by austerity, Bloomberg News reported. Banco Famsa will need a bailout of almost $1 billion to make depositors whole. Its failure is fueling worries among former officials that the watchdog known as the CNBV could miss warning signs at other lenders after a wave of resignations followed President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s drive to cut costs.

Wirecard is to be deleted from Germany’s blue-chip Dax index, weeks after the payments provider’s spectacular collapse into insolvency following the revelation of a long-running fraud, the Financial Times reported. Once the country’s most celebrated financial tech group, Wirecard was first promoted to the Dax — which contains Germany’s 30 leading companies — in 2018, when it replaced the ailing Commerzbank.

South Africa’s state defence firm Denel made a 1.7 billion rand ($99 million) loss in the 2019/20 financial year, the ministry that oversees the company said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Denel, which makes equipment from armoured vehicles to missiles for the South African armed forces and clients around the world, is suffering a liquidity crisis aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. It has struggled to pay salaries and has yet to publish its results for the financial year ended in March.

NMC Healthcare LLC plans to file for administration in Abu Dhabi, the UAE-based hospitals operator said on Wednesday, as it targets a three-year recovery plan involving a debt moratorium, debt restructuring and asset sales, Reuters reported. Its London-listed holding company NMC Health Plc is already being run by administrators Alvarez & Marsal after going into administration in April following months of turmoil over its finances. NMC Healthcare LLC plans to file for administration with the Abu Dhabi financial centre ADGM, it said in a presentation posted on its website on Wednesday.

Colombian airline Avianca, currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization proceedings in US Federal Court has announced that it has been working with its advisors, led by investment bank Seabury Securities LLC to put in place a DIP (Debtor In Possession) financing structure, Finance Colombia reported.

Eastar Jet Co. on Tuesday began the process to find a new owner after Jeju Air Co. scrapped its plan to acquire the smaller budget carrier amid the new coronavirus' impact on the airline industry, YonhapNews reported. Eastar Jet has selected Deloitte Anjin LLC, Yulchon LLC and Heungkuk Securities Co. as lead managers to handle the deal to sell its controlling 51.17 percent stake, Eastar Jet Senior Vice President Kim You-sang said over the phone.