Creditors who endorsed the plan included Deutsche Bank - the company's largest creditor with total loans of Bt24.48 billion or 41 per cent of total debts - Italian-Thai Development and Siemens while those opposed the plan were the Thai Asset Management Corp (TAMC) and Siam Commercial Bank.

The Skytrain operator has debts of Bt59 billion under the restructuring plan.

The current planner has divided BTS' creditors into 14 groups. The first group are creditors with collateral comprising eight creditors and the remainder are creditors without collateral.

Earlier, creditors led by TAMC and Siam Commercial Bank voted against the plan, requesting the company to add its Bt2.9 billion deposits in bank accounts and the remaining 23-year revenue forecast out of the 30-year concession period into debt restructuring to allow creditors to receive higher repayment. However, the court instructed BTS to include only money in the deposit accounts.

BTS CEO Keeree Kanjanapas said that the plan is also subject to the court's ruling following creditors' approval.

The company will proceed with the plan after the court's finding, he said, adding that more than one alliance would inject around US$600 million (Bt21.9 billion) into the company.

The firm will use the fund to repay its debts and reserve as working capital, said Keeree.

"The faster the company can conclude a deal with potential partners, the sooner the company will turn back to solvency status," he said.

Also, BTS' planned listing on the stock market will go ahead with the aim at raising fresh funds of $400 million to purchase carriages to meet with its route expansion plan.

The company has planned to go public in the second quarter next year.

A creditor source said that creditors who opposed the debt restructuring plan will express their objections three days ahead of the Central Bankruptcy Court's ruling on January 16, 2007, citing unfair treatment.

Siriporn Chanjindamanee

The Nation