SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - The Singapore High Court has scheduled a hearing on July 27 for Hyflux following a pre-trial conference, according to a regulatory update on Thursday (June 18)

The hearing will determine issues relating to the application by an unsecured working group (UWG) to be carved out of the water treatment firm's moratorium.

Similarly, the High Court will determine the application by RBC Investors Services Trust Singapore - as trustee of ESR-Reit and/or HSBC Institutional Trust Services (Singapore) - as trustee of Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust, to be carved out of the moratorium.

The UWG of banks comprises Mizuho, KfW, Bangkok Bank, BNP Paribas, Standard Chartered Bank, CTBC Bank, and the Korea Development Bank.

If a carve-out is approved, the UWG plans to file an application to appoint judicial managers to oversee Hyflux in place of the present management.

The UWG had first applied for a carve-out in May last year but failed to win approval from the court. Hyflux resisted the application, arguing that judicial management applications often end with the company in liquidation.

Hyflux is currently under a debt moratorium under Section 211B of the Companies Act, which gives it court protection from creditors until July 30.