Former CEO of TCL believes the US high-yield market is the best opportunity for the company

Rollin Bertrand was dismissed by TCL board of directors two weeks ago

{reg}According to the former CEO of the cement manufacturer Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL), the US high-yield market remains the "best opportunityÔÇØ for the financially troubled company to deal with its $300 million debt, reports The Gleaner.

Rollin Bertrand was dismissed by TCL board of directors two weeks ago.

"The US high-yield market is still the best opportunity for the company to reduce interest rates (below 8.0 percent) and have a more covenant-friendly arrangement with lendersÔÇØ, said Rollin Bertrand.

The new TCL chairman Wilfred Espinet disagreed with plans by Bertrand to float new, mostly United States dollar bonds to replace TCL's $300 million in debt.

"We had real difficulty understanding how, in 2011, TCL could not pay its debt, and what evolved out of the debt restructuring, as they called it, was the company came out with a higher principal and a higher rate of interest and no other attempt to do anything else to the companyÔÇØ, said Wilfred Espinet.

Espinet said that the regional cement producer is at a "critical stage of its existenceÔÇØ, and its survival depends on "its stakeholders and their willingness to protect the company" and participate in the "drastic restructuring that is┬árequiredÔÇØ.{/reg}