Miss Universe owner Anne Jakrajutatip clarifies debt issues
Anne Jakrajutatip, the owner of the Miss Universe organization, has made some clarifications about her debt issues.
This comes after Bangkok Post reported that her company has accumulated an outstanding debt of 443 million baht (P713 million) for its JKN239A loans. The shares of Thai media and content conglomerate JKN Global Group, which had acquired the prestigious pageant organization last year, plunged after Anne failed to pay 609 million baht (P980 million) worth of debentures.
In a video posted by local pageant page Pageanthology 101 on Facebook, the CEO said that they simply carried out a payment date adjustment after the company requested a postponement of the repayment schedule.
"Simply put, today's topic in a nutshell is payment date adjustment. Just adjust the day, and this is the first time in 25 years that Anne has had to adjust the payment date regardless of any financial institution," she said in Thai, as translated into English by Pageanthology 101.
Even with the changes in their initial agreement, Anne said the JKN shareholders will receive interest and assured them that there's nothing to worry about.
"In this case, the current company prepared cash to be paid immediately [and] to be promptly paid on the first day of September. The total amount is 156.6 million baht [more than 251 million pesos] immediately paid…..remaining amount," she explained.
"Everyone will receive interest until the day the money is received—that is the point," she added.
According to Bangkok Post, while Anne assured the Stock Exchange of Thailand that they would pay 26% or 156.6 million baht (P252 million)—146.62 million (P236 million) in principal and 9.98 million (P15 million) in interest—on Sept. 1, they would still have a balance of 443 million baht.
She said that they are planning to meet with the debenture holders on Sept. 29 to discuss a repayment delay. Should they approve, the overdue payment would not be considered a default as earlier contracted, and debenture holders would not demand an immediate repayment.
"In this regard, the company confirms and reiterates its commitment, to complete repayment of both principal and interest attached to the JKN239A debenture, alongside any other debentures issued by the company," she said in the same report.
This is only the first of seven tranches of JKN Global Group's debt worth 3.36 billion baht. The Thai Bond Market Association detailed that the six other tranches need to be paid by Sept 11, Oct 20, Nov 10, 13, 15, and 24. They are worth 300 million (P483 million), 578.6 million (P931 million), 400 million (P644 million), 800 million (P1.2 billion), 525 million (P845 million), and 156.6 million baht (P252 million).
JKN acquired the Miss Universe organization from IMG in October 2022.
Established in 2014, JKN is one of the biggest content management and distribution companies in Thailand. It has partnered with media giants like Walt Disney, CBS, and Sony.