O’Brien bid to rescue INM
INTERNATIONAL News & Media’s dissident shareholder Denis O’Brien yesterday unveiled his proposals for the struggling business, including the injection of €100m (£90m) of his own cash in return for a majority shareholding.
INM, led by chief executive Gavin O’Reilly, had been calling for its second-largest shareholder to outline his own solutions, after his vocal opposition to the board’s plans to restructure its £1.4bn debt.
The refinancing hinges on the repayment of a €200m (£180bn) bond, for which the fourth standstill agreement with the bondholders ends next week.
INM, which has a market value of around €250m, proposes to repay part of the bond through a debt-for-equity swap that would pass a 45 per cent stake to the bondholders.
But O’Brien’s advisers met with INM’s banks yesterday to put forward an alternative proposal, under which the bondholders would receive some cash up-front plus a smaller amount of equity.
Sources close to the rebel shareholder said the offer of a new cash injection had “caught the attention of the banks”.
The O’Reilly camp last night questioned whether banks or bondholders would be attracted by the new plan, which is markedly different from the one that has been laboured over since May.