Garuda Indonesia (GA, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) subsidiary Garuda Maintenance Facility Aero Asia Tbk (GMF AeroAsia) has been served a winding-up petition by Tigo Agra Gemilang, a Jakarta-based construction firm. The “debt payment obligation postponement” (Penundaan Kewajiban Pembayaran Utang - PKPU) application was filed on March 13 at the Central Jakarta District Court by Tigo Agra's legal representative Muhammad Fikri Alfarizi.
The filing requested that the court put the MRO unit into temporary PKPU status and appoint a judge from the commercial courts to establish and oversee a team that would schedule a meeting between GMF AeroAsia and its creditors to hammer out a debt resolution plan.
Temporary PKPU status lasts for a maximum of 45 days but can lead to ongoing PMKU status. Such status effectively provides a debtor with court-sanctioned relief from creditor claims so it can work on resolving its existing debts. GMF AeroAsia's latest quarterly report (3Q22) reveals the entity had assets of USD380.47 million and liabilities of USD733.63 million as of September 30, 2022.
In a March 16 filing to the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX), GMF AeroAsia's corporate and legal secretary, Rian Fajar Isnaeni, acknowledged receipt of the summons.
"The company (GMF AeroAsia) respects the legal efforts made by one of the company's business partners and is currently in the follow-up stage of the said application by coordinating with several parties," the filing said. "The applicant claims that there is a value of the company's business debt to the applicant that has not been settled."
The filing did not disclose the debt's dollar value, but Isnaeni said it was being checked and that the claimed amount was not material to GMF AeroAsia's operations, adding: "The company remains committed to maintaining operational continuity and providing optimal service to stakeholders."
IDX data shows that publicly listed GMF AeroAsia is 89.1% owned by Garuda Indonesia, while an entity called Masyarakat has a 10% stake. Garuda only finalised its own court-supervised debt restructuring process last autumn but successfully reduced its debts from about USD9 billion to USD5.1 billion.
According to GMF AeroAsia's website, it provides commercial aircraft MRO services, military aircraft maintenance services, performance analysis and engineering for engines, generators, and motors, inventory spares, and overnight transit service and emergency on-the-ground services.
Tigo Agra Gemilang's PKPU application is listed for hearing at Jakarta's Central District Court this week.
