Unsecured creditors of drybulk shipper Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd. have asked a bankruptcy court to terminate the exclusivity period for the company’s reorganization plan, saying that the package benefited only secured lenders and controlling shareholders, Reuters reported yesterday. The committee representing the unsecured creditors said late last month that Excel’s bondholders were planning to file a rival reorganization plan. Excel will get $50 million of new capital and access to $30 million of restricted cash under the current reorganization plan between Excel and its senior lenders and an entity affiliated with the family of Chairman Gabriel Panayotides. In return, an entity affiliated with the Panayotides family will receive 60 percent of the company for $30 million and the lenders 40 percent. In exchange, the lenders will postpone the maturity of Excel’s $771 million senior secured facility to 2018. The committee says the company’s plan gives the controlling shareholders the exclusive right to buy back their shares at a price that is significantly less than the market value while leaving non-trade unsecured creditors a slim chance of recovery.
