The once great shipping giant, Hanjin Shipping Co., Ltd. is now facing liquidation. The appraised liquidation value is 19 trillion won.
According to the inspection report prepared by Samil PriceWaterhouseCoopers (Samil PWC) and submitted to the Seoul Central District Court (the Korean Bankruptcy Court handling the rehabilitation proceedings of Hanjin Shipping) on the 13th of December, the appraised going concern value is only 80 billion won. Moreover, following the sale of Hanjin Shipping's Asia-U.S. route assets and its 54% stake in the Long Beach Terminal International LLC, which constituted substantial portion of the company's business assets, Hanjin Shipping's source of revenue has basically diminished.
Hanjin Shipping will also be facing numerous compensation claims due to its failure to satisfy supply commitments of freight volumes to its customers. Samil PWC, as inspector for Hanjin Shipping's rehabilitation proceedings, opined in its inspection report that there is hardly any going concern value for Hanjin Shipping and, that any further operation would rather be futile.
The rehabilitation proceedings will now come to an end as the value of Hanjin Shipping's business falls short of the assessed proceeds of liquidation. There will be no further drafting of a rehabilitation plan, for which there had been a deadline in early February 2017. According to unofficial comment from an unidentified source involved in the rehabilitation proceedings at Seoul Central District Court, the Court will declare Hanjin Shipping bankrupt upon disposition of all its remaining assets.
We will keep you updated with notable news on Hanjin Shipping's liquidation.
Originally published Insolvency Legal Update, December 2016
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