Interserve agrees rescue deal with lenders
Written by News on 06/02/2019
Troubled outsourcing giant Interserve has agreed a rescue deal with lenders that will see its debt pile slashed through the placing of new shares with them.
Chief executive Debbie White said the plan would provide a “secure future” for workers, customers and suppliers – but it will require approval from long-suffering existing shareholders.
It will see Interserve’s debt cut from around £600m to £275m, as the company places £480m in new shares with its existing lenders.
The new equity would account for 97.5% of the company’s share capital, hitting current stock holders who have already been battered by the collapse in Interserve’s market value to less than £20m.
Interserve said it hoped the plan would be “fully consensual” but added that it was “actively preparing alternative plans to ensure the proposed transaction can be implemented in the event that shareholder approval is not forthcoming”.
The deal, confirming a story first reported by Sky News at the weekend, is likely to come as a relief to ministers desperate to salvage the future of a company which employs 45,000 people in the UK and provides many public sector services ranging from hospital cleaning to school meals.
More follows…
(c) Sky News 2019: Interserve agrees rescue deal with lenders
