INM bondholders sign up to debt-for-equity agreement

INDEPENDENT News & Media (INM) has taken a significant step closer to completing its bond restructuring deal with lenders after 75% of bondholders agreed to the framework agreement at a meeting in London.

Last month, INM’s management reached an initial agreement with lenders over the restructuring of its outstanding €200 million bond, originally due for repayment last May. The agreement basically involves €123m of the debt being exchanged for a 46.3% combined stakeholding in INM for the bondholders. It also involves a rights issue aimed at raising €94m to pay off the remainder of the outstanding bond debt.

Yesterday’s bondholder meeting basically takes care of the debt-for-equity element of the deal. It means bondholders are tied into the restructuring alternative put forward by INM and cannot side with any alternative put forward by the independent shareholder Denis O’Brien.

INM said it welcomes the endorsement of the restructuring and anticipates the deal will now be completed on schedule and prior to the year end, “thereby affording the company a secure and stable foundation, with a significantly reduced debt profile, from which to leverage the group’s businesses and key strengths across its global portfolio of leading media assets“.

While the debt-for-equity part of the agreement did not require shareholder approval, other elements of the deal do. An extraordinary general meeting for votes on the rights issue and the sale of the INM Outdoor advertising company in South Africa will be held later this month.