LONDON, June 20 (Reuters) – South African conglomerate Aveng
and its banker Nedbank have agreed to a Gabon government
proposal to settle a legal dispute that has delayed a Eurobond
coupon payment from the West African country for over a week, a
Nedbank executive said on Wednesday.
Gabon’s government earlier told Reuters that a $32 million
coupon payment on its $1 billion Eurobond had been delayed
because funds had been frozen by a court order obtained by a
third-party creditor.
Nedbank confirmed that its client Aveng was the creditor in
question.
“The Gabonese government has come with a proposal to resolve
the matter and we have accepted the terms of their proposal.
However certain payments need to be made before we lift the
freezing order,” Brian Kennedy, group managing executive for
Nedbank told Reuters from South Africa.
“We are agreeable to the proposal and we are waiting for the
implementation thereof,” Kennedy said, adding that lifting the
court order and unfreezing the cash could be a “matter of
hours.”
The coupon was due on June 12 and Gabon has a 10-day grace
period before it is considered to be in default.
Kennedy said the claim on Gabon dated back to 2001 and
related to the construction of housing units. He declined to say
how much was owed.
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