China Natural Gas denied third request to extend exclusivity periods

By Kali Hays

New York, April 30 - China Natural Gas, Inc. received a denial of its third motion to extend its exclusive plan of reorganization filing and solicitation periods, according to a Wednesday order with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

The company asked that its filing period be extended through June 9 from April 7 and its acceptance period through Aug. 9 from June 11 because it needed extra time to "negotiate, document and file any acceptable transaction" that "maximizes value for all stakeholders," according to the motion.

As previously reported, petitioning creditors Abax Lotus Ltd. and Abax Nai Xin A Ltd. objected to the company's request on April 3, claiming that the company had failed to produce expected results from its previous extension, including fully marketed assets for sale with an identified lead bidder and a complete data room.

Abax also claimed that the company was intentionally "stonewalling" the creditors in order to force an acceptance of less value for the assets.

"Unfortunately, the debtor has (again) wasted its extension and failed to accomplish any of its stated goals. With at least three potential investors having executed non-disclosure agreements over a month ago, management's inability to accomplish even the simplest of administrative tasks is discouraging would-be participants and chilling the sale process before it even commences," the objection stated.

Based in Xi'an, China, China Natural Gas is a provider of pipeline natural gas for industrial, commercial and residential use and compressed natural gas for vehicular fuel. The Chapter 11 case was filed on Feb. 8, 2013 under case number 13-10419.

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