Autobahn Car Rental Group's ban application rejected, while appealing introduces potential investors from listed companies | Lianhe Zaobao

Local car rental group Autobahn Rent A Car's application for a debt repayment extension order (hereinafter referred to as the injunction) was rejected, and it has appealed on Monday (December 29) and requested the court to expedite the hearing of the appeal case. The company also revealed that a Singapore Exchange-listed company is interested in investing in the group and has applied for a new six-week temporary injunction to facilitate investment negotiations. The Business Times reported the above news on Monday. The court had previously rejected the six-month injunction and restructuring plan applied for by eight companies under the group on December 26. This application would have allowed the group to prevent creditors from taking legal or debt collection actions during the restructuring process according to the restructuring plan. The 30-day grace period that automatically took effect after the application expired on December 26. A total of 18 companies under the group applied for the injunction in two batches, with one batch of eight companies having their applications rejected by the court, leading this group of companies to appeal. The eight companies are: Autobahn Rent A Car, Hamilton Autohub, Hamilton Capital, Shinsei Rent A Car, AhTan Car Repairs, Hamilton Autobahn, 88 Auto, and Thundercarz. All 18 companies are engaged in the automotive industry, including the car-sharing service company Shariot, and owe over 370 million dollars to more than 50 creditors, including DBS Bank, OCBC Bank, and UOB. Further Reading Owing 300 million, car rental group Autobahn and 18 companies apply for debt extension injunction The group mainly engages in private car rental and fleet management business and has established a fleet of at least 1,100 vehicles since 2017 through installment payments and various loan methods. Major shareholder Tan Boon Kee (Roy Tan) submitted court documents on December 24 mentioning that a company listed on the Singapore Exchange has expressed interest in investing in the Autobahn group. A representative of the group, when asked, declined to disclose the name of the listed company based on a confidentiality agreement. Previously, the group had revealed other potential investors from Australia and Malaysia, who proposed to spin off Shariot into a joint venture with a potential investment amount of 100 million Before the court hearing on December 26, 22 creditors opposed the injunction application. The three creditors with the largest amounts are DBS Bank (HKD 102.6 million), Teck Wei Credit (HKD 74.2 million), and Toyota Financial Services (HKD 43.1 million)