COURT APPROVES HOLT GROUP FINANCING

COURT APPROVES HOLT GROUP FINANCING    Gloucester City, N.J.-based The Holt Group, Inc., the container shipping, stevedoring, warehousing and trucking group, announced that the Court for the District of Delaware has granted final approval for its $10-million “debtor in possession” financing.
   Holt’s financing was led by First Union National Bank. Holt said that the final approval was held over from April 30 to give the company the opportunity to seek better terms.
   “By working with our senior bank lenders and the committee of unsecured creditors, we were able to reduce the overall cost of the loan and improve the terms for the company,” said Bill Streich, chief financial officer of Holt.
   “Some of our competitors have tried to question our progress in the market place,” commented Tom Holt, Jr., chief executive officer of the Holt Group’s Navieras shipping subsidiary. “The court approval of the debtor in possession financing once again vindicates the efforts of our team and our progress towards a successful plan of reorganization,” he added.
   The Holt Group and over 20 of its subsidiaries and affiliates, including NPR-Navieras, had filed Chapter 11 petitions in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in March.