Eircom set to exit examinership

Ireland’s Eircom published an investor update announcing the High Court has approved the plan recommended by the court-appointed examiner, Michael McAteer, to restructure Eircom Group.

The court’s approval paves the way for the group’s three operating units – Eircom Limited, Meteor Mobile and Irish Telecommunications Investments Limited – to successfully exit examinership on June 11.

The approval marks the second largest successful examinership in the history of the Republic.

From the exit date, Eircom Group’s capital structure will change and its senior lenders will become its new shareholders. At the same time the entire issued share capital will be transferred to a company owned by Eircom’s senior lenders, and ST Telemedia and the Employee Share Ownership Trust (ESOT) will cease be the group’s shareholders.

Furthermore, the agreement will see Eircom’s debt reduced through the reduction or writing off of certain classifications of debt as agreed at arecent creditors’ meeting.

The Irish group balance sheet debts will be reduced by more than 40 percent to EUR2.3 billion, down from EUR4.1 billion.

Finally, Eircom says that unsecured trade creditors will be “unaffected by the scheme of arrangement and will continue to be paid in full for work completed in accordance with the terms of their contracts.”