May 04, 2005. /Lesprom Network/. Asia Pulp & Paper is exploring the possibility of an out-of-court settlement with shareholders behind a 2001 class-action lawsuit in the U.S.. An adviser to the largest corporate defaulter in emerging markets history said Tuesday that the restructuring of about $5 billion of the company's Indonesian debts has cleared the way for negotiations. APP, which stopped payments on $14 billion in debts in March 2001, on Tuesday announced that it had begun paying creditors for the first time after a restructuring of about $5 billion owed by three of its four main Indonesian operating companies became effective last week. That move came despite attempts by secured bondholders, led by US investors Oaktree Capital and Gramercy Advisors, to block the restructuring. But it also came as key advisers headed to the US to work towards a settlement of the 2001 class action that alleges APP's earnings releases between 1997 and 2000 misled investors. An APP adviser said the company felt the Indonesian restructuring opened the door for talks aimed at settling the action "soon".