Language school Apax Leaders promises to repay debts from July

The company would contact elderly, sick and other people who are going through a difficult time and pay them the money it owes, Egroup chairman Nguyen Ngoc Thuy said at a meeting with creditors on Tuesday.

Egroup has been raising capital by borrowing from individual creditors for years, either through bonds or investment products that promise high returns. But since the company ran into financial challenges because of Covid-19 it has not been able to pay them back.

The company is now offering the rest of the creditors two options: either wait for three or four years to be paid after it completes restructuring or convert the debts into other assets such as credits for English courses, household appliances and investment products.

Thuy said the company would ask the creditors to accept a haircut on the accumulated interest.

"I am asking them to voluntarily [reduce the interest] to help the company overcome difficulties."

Egroup is trying to find new funding sources to speed up the debt repayment, as it could only bounce back after all are paid, Thuy said.

The company has now gotten over its most difficult period and has been opening at new locations in northern Vietnam, he added.

Trading in the shares of Apax Holdings, the only listed subsidiary of Egroup, has been restricted since mid-May due to late disclosure of last year’s financial reports.

It closed at VND2,540 (US$0.11) on Wednesday, down 38% since early January.