Sainty Marines First Auction Sparks No Interest

Sainty Marine Shenzhen-listed shipbuilder Jiangsu Sainty Marines first round of auction for the sale of its assets did not attract any buyers after a 24-hour auction period ended yesterday morning. The assets of the financially-troubled shipbuilder are scheduled to be put up for a second auction on April 25 on Chinas online auction website Taobao. The starting bid price will be at CNY 1.72 billion (USD 265.4 million), 20 percent lower than the assessed value of the assets, according to data from Taobao. If the company fails to accomplish its restructuring efforts, it will be forced to go bankrupt, and might face delisting from the Shangai stock exchange, Jiangsu Sainty Marine earlier said. In February, the Nanjing Intermediate People’s Court granted Jiangsu Sainty Marine Corp the approval for restructuring. At the time, the company said that it planned to continue the shipyard’s business during the restructuring process. The company has been struggling to overcome its financial issues for some time now. During 2015 the shipbuilder received cancellations of a number of newbuilding orders due to its inability to deliver the vessels on time.