Richard M. Hixson pardoned Nu Skin
Yesterday I put up a popular post noting that Nu Skin, a multi-level marketing company - had breached its debt covenants and was pardoned by its bank.
The banker who signed on behalf of JPMorgan Chase was none other than Richard M. Nixon - the (presumably) deceased former President.
Prior to posting I confirmed that there was no easy-to-trace Richard M. Nixon working at JPM.
But hey - Nixon used to hang around with Elvis, and Elvis is still alive - so why not the President?
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Anyway Nu Skin lodged an SEC filing stating that they had been pardoned by Richard M. Hixson (declaring a typographical error).
I have confirmed through back-channels there is a Richard M. Hixson working for JPM and in an appropriate role at the bank.
I accept the Nu Skin explanation.
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Nu Skin has neither confirmed nor denied they needed a pardon on their debt covenant - and they neither confirmed nor denied that they will breach their covenants again at the end of this quarter.
Those calculations are on the original post.
The buried punch-line of the original post was this:
In July 2014, the Company's subsidiary in Japan borrowed 3 billion Japanese yen (approximately $30.0 million), which is due on September 30, 2014. In July 2014, the Company's subsidiary in South Korea borrowed $20.0 million, which is due in December 2014, with a right to extend the term for an additional six months.
The company borrowed $30 million for two months without an obvious reason. It's like hey, I got $234 million in the bank, can you spot me $30 million for two months?
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Whatever - they breached their debt covenants. And they needed a pardon. Richard M. Hixson did the job. And they are borrowing money offshore despite saying in their last conference call they have no trouble repatriating their (considerable) offshore balances.
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At this point though I feel a little like Kermit the GORF.
John