Bondholders back O’Brien Digicel deal

• On Wednesday Digicel said investors holding 94.7% of its 2020 bonds had agreed to a plan to exchange the bonds for debt maturing in 2022. A further offer to postpone the repayment of  the $1Bn bond due in 2022 by two years remains on the table, with a deadline falling on Friday for investors to accept the terms. 

• Mr O’Brien’s push to restructure these bonds prompted credit rating agencies Moody’s and Fitch to downgrade Digicel, which has debts of $6.7bn. A committee of bondholders had dismissed his original plan as “unacceptable”. But he sweetened the terms this month, improving the standing of $580m of the 2020 bonds by exchanging them for new senior secured bonds. 

• The interest rate will remain the same at 8.25 per cent. The plan to postpone the 2022 debt would increase the interest rate to 9.125 per cent from 7.125 per cent.

 (Source: The Financial Times)