AN EXECUTED investment agreement to rescue International Securities Trading Corporation (ISTC) is to be circulated to its creditors within days and the Competition Authority has also been informed, the High Court was told yesterday.
ISTC lends capital to banks and was placed under court protection last November after a crisis in the financial markets left it nursing a deficit of some €871 million.
Lyndon MacCann, for ISTC examiner John McStay, told Mr Justice Peter Kelly yesterday the examiner was seeking to have the court protection for the lender extended to March 7th, the maximum 100 days allowed under the relevant legislation. This would facilitate the sending of the investment agreement to creditors and the holding of creditors meetings on the agreement.
In reply to the judge, he said details of the investment were provided in documents to the court, but the company did not wish to disclose them in advance of the creditors meetings.
When Mr Justice Kelly observed that it appeared the Competition Authority would have to be involved and queried whether that would affect the proposed timescale, counsel said it was hoped the authority would respond within the set period.
On that basis, the judge said he would extend court protection to March 7th. Mr MacCann said he anticipated the examiner's report would be presented to the court before then.
The judge heard from Rossa Fanning, for the company, that an issue had emerged about the proposed sale of the ISTC premises and his side wished to make an application in that regard.
The judge said that motion could be brought next week on notice to the affected parties.
In earlier hearings, Mr Justice Kelly noted that, in an interim report from Mr McStay, the examiner had confirmed the opinion of an independent accountant that ISTC has a reasonable prospect of survival and that the banks supported the examinership.
ISTC, with registered offices at Adelaide Road, Dublin, was founded in May 2005 by Tiernan O'Mahoney, former chief operating officer of Anglo Irish Bank, and employs 18 people.
The company's application for examinership last November followed a warning by a German bank creditor of its intention to file a petition to wind up ISTC within three weeks unless its debt of some €176,000 was paid. Mr Justice Kelly had earlier noted the alternative to examinership would involve liquidation and a "firesale" of ISTC's assets, resulting in a shortfall of some €871 million.
