(Oct 9): Noble Group, the commodity trader struggling to avoid a default, has set out why it received millions of dollars less from the sale of its North American gas and power unit than the company had previously indicated, responding to queries from the Singapore exchange.

The figures differed because the unit’s working capital shrank, cutting the amount that needed to be paid by Mercuria Energy Group, Noble Group said in a statement on Monday. The illustrative sum given earlier by Noble Group also didn’t take into account funds that were placed in escrow, it said.

The Hong Kong-based trader is under intense scrutiny from investors and regulators as it pursues a shrink-to-survive strategy, selling off businesses to pay down debt. As part of that, Mercuria paid Noble Group for US$102 million ($139.1 million) for the gas and power unit and deposited a further US$83 million into an escrow account. Noble Group had estimated it would be paid US$261 million for the business based on its end-of-June accounts, and the Singapore Exchange had asked the company to reconcile the difference between the figures.

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