On 4 February 2013, Arco Vara announced to the stock exchange that in order to recover a loan Danske Bank A/S had initiated enforcement proceedings against Arco HCE OÜ, which is a 50% joint venture of Arco Investeeringute AS that is a wholly-held subsidiary of Arco Vara AS. The object of the proceedings was to exercise a mortgage created for the benefit of Danske Bank A/S on a property located at Ahtri 3 in Tallinn.
On 20 February 2013, the court satisfied ARCO HCE OÜ’s application for securing the action and suspended the enforcement proceedings against the company. Together with the application for securing the action, Arco HCE OÜ filed an action against Danske Bank A/S seeking that Danske Bank A/S extend the loan agreement.
Since Arco Investeeringute AS has provided a surety guarantee to Arco HCE OÜ’s bank loan, Danske Bank A/S sent Arco Investeeringute AS a claim for paying out the guarantee, which extends to 1,917,349.46 euros.
Arco Investeeringute AS challenged the claim for paying out the surety guarantee. In simplified terms, the basis for the challenge was that if the loan cannot be called in, then the surety guarantee cannot be called in either.
In response, Danske Bank A/S filed a petition for declaring Arco Investeeringute AS bankrupt.
Arco Investeeringute AS is of the opinion that there is no basis for calling in the surety guarantee and intends to challenge the bankruptcy petition.
The shares in Arco HCE are held, in equal proportions, by Arco Investeeringute AS and Ahtrimaa OÜ (former name U.S. Real Estate Management OÜ).
Egert Paulberg
Financial Controller
Arco Vara AS
Tel: +372 614 4503
egert.paulberg@arcovara.ee