Thai-listed JKN Global Media has submitted a tangle of reasons for confusion surrounding its US$16-million sale of a 50% stake in the Miss Universe Organisation. 

In a new list of clarifications demanded by Thailand’s Stock Exchange, the company also continues its attempts to untangle a deal/disclosure timeline that criss-crosses its November 2023 business rehabilitation/bankruptcy filing in Thailand. 

The timeline being offered clearly attempts to put distance between the sale and the rehabilitation filing, and to sidestep questions about disposal of assets while under bankruptcy protection. 

At the same time, JKN Global stopped short of committing to exactly how the proceeds of the sale would be used, saying financial advisors were working on a utilisation plan that would be disclosed by Thursday (15 February).  

No mention was made of debt repayments. 

The new clarifications, submitted to Thai financial authorities last week (6 February), gave Singapore the hero’s role in a multinational high-drama playing out on multiple stages around the world. 

The Miss Universe sale to a Mexican conglomerate is being run through JKN’s wholly owned Singapore-registered subsidiary, JKN Global Content Pte Ltd, which is envisioned as the “main entity in expanding business to various countries”.  

Some of the latest confusion has roots in November last year, when JKN Global filed for business rehabilition after missing bond repayment deadlines. 

A Bankruptcy Court hearing was set for 29 January – and delayed until first week March because JKN’s rep was ill. 

About a week before the hearing was scheduled to take place, JKN and its new Mexican partner announced the Miss Universe sale, which, they said, had been agreed in October last year, prior to the rehabilitation filing.  

Now the Thai stock exchange wants to know all about the timelines, including an ownership restructure that appeared to have happened on the eve of the bankruptcy filing. 

The exchange is also asking questions about who gets the money from the Miss Universe sale and who will be responsible for compliance.  

Just before the Lunar New Year holidays, in its 6 February clarification on the rationale and necessity for restructuring JKN Legacy (which falls under the Singapore-registered JKN Global Content) from direct to indirect ownership, JKN said this was a “preparatory restructuring to accommodate the expansion of the MUO business into the global market”. 

Singapore, the company said, was envisioned “as a catalyst to enhance business opportunities”.

 JKN extolled Singapore’s “favorable business position and potential”, listing the country’s status as the “international hub of Asia”, its rich source of skilled personnel, currency advantages and flexible financial management, and the most powerful law enforcement in Asia, with  the highest global standards.  

JKN told the Stock Exchange that it had been looking for investors in JKN Legacy before it realised that the parent company would need Central Bankruptcy Court protection. 

JKN said conversations with Mexico’s Legacy Holdings Group boss, Raul Rocha Cantu, dated back to August last year. 

The company said it realised during negotiations for the investment term in JKN Legacy that a shareholding restructure was necessary to “suit international investors better”. 

The shareholding restructure that shifted JKN Legacy from direct to indirect ownership was done before the petition for rehabilitation was filed, and that the move was “not intended to evade the legal implications under the provisions of the Bankruptcy Act”.