St Laurence gives investors ultimatum

St Laurence managing director Kevin Podmore says receivers will not get the best outcome for investors and that they would be better off accepting a debt-for-equity swap that would give them control of the company's assets than sending it into receivership.

The finance company, which is one of the last to try to trade its way out of trouble through a moratorium, will miss its next repayment to investors in July and will try to woo them into a debt-for-equity swap in a bid to avoid receivership.

Based on advice from McGrath Nicol, St Laurence's directors expect class A and B debenture holders would receive a further 26 to 38 cents in the dollar on top of the 10 cents they have already received over the next two to three years. Capital note holders would receive nothing on top of the 5 cents in the dollar they've already recovered.

"We would be, at the very minimum, looking to get what the receivers would return as a maximum," Podmore told depositrates.co.nz.