Creditors plan to take swift action on the first workday of the new year today to seize a plot of land owned by a subsidiary of scandal-ridden Ting Hsin International Group (頂新國際集團), the principal bank owed by the food maker said yesterday.
State-run Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐國際商銀) said it will file a court petition for the seizure of the land in Sanchong District (三重) in New Taipei City after Ting Hsin’s land development affiliate, Ting Lu Development Co (頂率開發), failed to pay off a syndicated loan of NT$6.5 billion (US$205 million) by its due date, on Wednesday.
Once the land is seized, it will be put up for auction.
While imperiled Ting Hsin can still continue to seek buyers for the land, Mega Bank said: “The most important thing is that the creditors’ rights are protected.”
The 49,500m2 plot was purchased by Ting Hsin subsidiary Wei Chuan Foods Corp (味全食品) — the company at the center of last fall’s substandard oil scandals — in 2010 for about NT$10.1 billion.
The land was then acquired by Ting Lu, in which Wei Chuan holds a 51 percent stake, for a development plan that led Ting Lu to take out a syndicated loan totaling NT$18.5 billion, which it has not paid back in full.
The value of the land now stands at NT$20 billion, Mega Bank said.
Ting Hsin now finds itself cash-strapped over its role in the use of substandard ingredients at several subsidiaries selling adulterated cooking oils.
The food scandals sparked a public outcry that turned into a nationwide boycott against any company connected to the conglomerate.
While creditor banks tighten measures on loans associated with Ting Hsin’s Wei (魏) family, the brothers behind the local food giant are being pushed to withdraw from the management of Taipei Financial Center Corp (台北金融大樓公司), which runs the landmark Taipei 101 skyscraper.
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