By Saurabh Chaturvedi and Manju Dalal 

This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (August 18, 2018).

Deutsche Bank has launched an unexpected offer to buy bonds of Singapore-listed commodity trader Noble Group Ltd., days before a shareholder vote on a $3.5 billion restructuring.

The embattled Noble has been pursuing the restructuring for months as it seeks to stay afloat, address a liquidity crunch and in due course provide a return to shareholders who have watched the company's market value decline to about $110 million from a peak of more than $11 billion in 2011.

It wasn't immediately clear if Deutsche Bank was acting on behalf of another company or for itself, although banks typically handle bond tenders like this for clients. The potential impact on the reorganization was also unclear, since if bondholders who have already signed up for the restructuring sell their holdings, the new buyer would still be obliged to back the plan.

"The offer has surprised everyone," said Sandra Chow, head of Asian research at CreditSights in Singapore. "It could be from someone trying to scuttle the restructuring process or may even be from someone who wants to take control of Noble's assets at a cheaper price."

According to the notice sent to Noble's bondholders by Deutsche Bank's London branch, the offer started on Wednesday and gives investors until Aug. 24 to tender their bonds.

The offer covers roughly two-thirds of the debt under restructuring, or $2.34 billion of three separate bonds issued by Noble that are due in 2018, 2020 and 2022. The minimum purchase price is 45 cents on the dollar, according to the notice, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. These bonds recently traded between 46 and 48 cents on the dollar, according to Thomson Reuters.

Deutsche Bank, which declined to comment, is a creditor to Noble and has agreed to provide trade finance facilities to the company under its restructuring. Noble didn't respond to a request for comment.

The offer comes after Noble had already secured the support of 86% of noteholders -- much higher than the minimum 75% it needed. The company needs more than half of shareholders to approve the restructuring at a meeting on Aug. 27. Deutsche Bank is expected to announce the result of its bond offer Aug. 28.

About 30% of Noble's shareholders, including the company's founder Richard Elman and Abu Dhabi-based Goldilocks Investment Co. have already backed the restructuring.

In the past, there have been reports about Chinese interest in Noble. But no deal could be reached, especially as Noble has been battered by accusations of accounting irregularities, first leveled in early 2015 by a then-anonymous blogger known as Iceberg Research. The firm has denied the allegations.

Since announcing its restructuring plans in January, Noble has twice sweetened the deal for shareholders. In June, Noble said shareholders would get 20% of the equity in the new group, up from the 15% offered earlier. Creditors will get a 70% stake, while 10% will go to management.

Write to Saurabh Chaturvedi at Saurabh.Chaturvedi@wsj.com and Manju Dalal at manju.dalal@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 18, 2018 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)