Restructuring plan drawn up by owners of troubled T1 Tallinn shopping mall

The owner of the T1 shopping mall in Tallinn is submitting a 10-year restructuring plan that it hopes will both help weather the coronavirus pandemic and utilize unused space in the mall, which lay empty even before the pandemic struck. One possible future solution is to use the mall's space for various public services; the future of a planned spa center is uncertain.
Parent company AS Pro Kapital Grupp has submitted a restructuring plan to Tallinna Moekombinaat, the mall's owner; the latter had already planned a spa center on the mall's third floor, but this had to be put on ice due to the pandemic.
Boosting the mall's entertainment options has not been abandoned, the center's CEO Allan Remmelkoor told ERR Friday, but specifics can't be confirmed yet.
"There are still plans afoot to increase the field of entertainment, which is important in terms of direction," Remmelkoor said.
The T1 mall opened in November 2018 but has seen sluggish interest in its floor space since then, in a city which already boasts two shopping malls in the same district.
Shopping malls have been closed, save for access to essential service providers such as supermarkets and pharmacies, since late March, but are set to reopen fully next Monday as coronavirus restrictions imposed during the emergency situation start to be eased.
Tallinna Moekombinaat has already said it would pursue new business directions and find new tenants despite the crisis, adding the center has been constructed in a way which enables flexible space solutions.
As an option, the center is also considering the creation of co-working areas.
The reorganization plan will:
- Restructure creditors' claims.
- Adjust the T1 business model.
- Involve additional investments.
- Involve a 10-year period for payment of receivables in line with the logic of financing cashflow objects.
The plan will additionally divide creditors into three groups:
- Those with secured claims, who are not reduced in their part, with receivables deferred and paid in instalments, with an interest rate of 3.75 percent per annum.
- Those with unsecured claims, whose claims are reduced by 60 percent, see receivables deferred and payable in instalments, at a zero percent interest rate.
- Shareholders, whose claims are reduced by 80 percent, with fulfilment subject to repayments of the other two groups, with no interest payments required.
The company plans to pay both current liabilities and receivables restructured on the basis of this reorganization plan using current cash flow, but plans to raise an additional €3.2 million should this prove insufficient.
Allan Remmelkoor said the T1 mall still has 2,500 square meters of office space available, and plans expand on this capacity, with one suggestion being in the area of public services.
"This is also one of the directions we are moving in. Shopping malls are gradually becoming public service centers," Remmelkoor said.
In changing current business activities, the mall is hoping for more uptake in rental premises, which could also both be used to finance creditors' claims as noted above, plus make investments in the center.
T1 creditors are to vote on the adoption of the reorganization plan in due course.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte