Banco Popular de Puerto Rico sues Romark Global Pharma for $9.2M
Romark established its operation on the island in 2019.
Banco Popular de Puerto Rico has filed a lawsuit against Romark Global Pharma and several subsidiaries to collect some $9.2 million owed on a $25 million loan granted in 2018.
The lawsuit filed at the San Juan Superior Court alleges that Romark Global Pharma and its guarantors – which include several of its subsidiaries such as Romark Distributions LLC – have “breached their obligations under the loan agreement.”
On June 28, 2018, Banco Popular and Romark Global Pharma signed a credit and security agreement through which the bank granted Romark 25 million in financing, for which the latter signed a promissory note.
According to the lawsuit, on Jan. 2, 2020, the parties made a first amendment to the loan agreement, followed by a second amendment some six months later, on June 26. A third amendment was signed on Nov. 5, 2020.
The lawsuit establishes that Romark received a notice of default in April 2021, for breaching the loan agreement terms. By May, the bank warned Romark that it was in breach after failing to comply with a mandatory advance payment of nearly $18 million.
The bank asked Romark to provide information on its lack of payment by July 14, 2021, “to determine the course of action to follow.” The defendants apparently did not provide the information, because the bank sent another default notice on Aug. 27, 2021.
That breach led to the signing of a forbearance agreement in October 2021, when “the defendants acknowledged having failed to comply with the terms and conditions of the loan contract,” according to the lawsuit.
The forbearance agreement was followed by several amendments and default notices in 2022 and 2023.
“It can be concluded that the collection efforts and attempts to negotiate by Banco Popular against the defendants have been unsuccessful,” the bank stated in the lawsuit. “The contractual breach of the defendants has forced Banco Popular to resort to this Honorable Court to request the collection of what is owed under the financing documents.”
As of July 2024, Romark owes the bank approximately $9.2 million, comprising $6.1 million in principal and about $3.1 million in accrued interest.
Romark had offered collateral, including its inventory and “all accounts arising from the sale of inventory or the provision of services,” among a list of benefits as part of the loan agreement.
Romark Global Pharma, a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing new drugs for infectious diseases and cancer, inaugurated its $80 million manufacturing plant in Manatí in 2019, as News is my Business reported.
