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Lotte Group has teamed up with Meritz Securities Co. to address the debt mess which Lotte E&C is facing. The two set up a KRW1.5 trillion joint fund to support the struggling engineering and construction company, which is an affiliate of the Lotte Group.
Lotte Group and Meritz Securities will work together to bring in liquidity amid the credit crunch in South Korea. As per Pulse News, business insiders said that the companies agreed to the creation of a $1.18 billion support fund for Lotte Engineering and Construction firm. The companies are scheduled to sign the agreement on Jan. 9, Monday.
The money will help Lotte’s construction arm in its multi-million dollar real estate project financing (PF), including the repayment of debt at maturity. Some of the Lotte Group’s major affiliates, such as the Hotel Lotte Co., Lotte Corp., and Lotte Fine Chemical Co., will also help after they were listed as those that will be responsible for part of the funding requirement,
The companies will have to give KRW600 billion in total as subordinated creditors. On the other hand, Meritz Financial Group’s affiliates, including Meritz Securities, Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance, and Meritz Capital, will handle the remaining KRW900 billion as a senior creditor.
The money is set to be used to buy some maturing asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) guaranteed by Lotte E&C. Help pours in for the construction firm after its parent company, the Lotte Group, implemented self-rescue measures by calling up its group affiliates to ask them to provide financial support for Lotte E&C.
The construction firm plunged into a liquidity crisis after the developer of the Legoland theme park in Korea defaulted and caused a huge problem in the local public debt market.
“We believe that Lotte E&C currently has enough liquidity to calm concerns caused by a temporary financial market crunch in 2022,” Business Korea quoted an official at Meritz Securities as saying in a statement. “We look forward to seeing our partnership with Lotte E&C further solidified.”
