Pandai betul kroni berniaga - tengok apa dah jadi kat Dataprep... #######

Subject: Bail Out

Dataprep seeks govt help to resolve RM64m debt

DATAPREP Holdings Bhd, controlled by the elder (sic!) son of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, is seeking help from the government to push a plan to repay RM64 million ringgit (S$29.2 million) of debt.

Mr Mirzan: chairman and CEO of Dataprep ------------------------------------------

The software firm, headed by chairman and chief executive Mirzan Mahathir, is seeking arbitration from the Corporate Debt Restructuring Committee (CDRC), a state-owned mediator of debt disputes. The move comes five months after the company unveiled its own debt plan. The CDRC helps to keep such spats from ending up in court.

The step could bolster Dataprep's efforts to win approval from creditors for a plan unveiled in January. The plan aims to help the company, hurt by the 1998 recession and rising competition, out of its financial predicament. With the exception of fiscal 1999, it has lost money every year since 1996.

Shares of Dataprep, which trade on the smaller Kuala Lumpur Second Board, rose as much as 8 sen, or 3.1 per cent, to RM2.68 yesterday. It was its second day of gains.

Dataprep's debt plan includes halving its shares outstanding and selling 40 million new shares as well as 15.1 million new warrants to closely-held VXL Holdings Sdn to raise RM53 million.

The proposal also includes a debt waiver of 30 per cent of the principal amount of unsecured debt as of Dec 31, 1999. The company also wants all accrued interest, penalty charges and future interest waived.