INM proposes deeply discounted rights issue to pay off bondholders

LONDON - Struggling Independent News & Media, publisher of the Independent, is asking its shareholders to supply it with fresh capital in a deeply discounted rights offer to help pay bondholders some of the €200m (£169m) it owes.

The company, which has total debts of €1.4bn, has been in lengthy discussions with the lenders behind the €200m bond about ways of refinancing the money.

The bond was due to be repaid in mid-May, but Independent News & Media secured a six-week standstill agreement which expires on June 26 -- this Friday.

It said today that discussions with the bondholders envision extending the standstill agreement to July 24 in order to "facilitate a consensual solution".

Such a solution is likely to involve INM conducting a deeply discounted rights issue, which according to reports would raise €50m-€100m.

This would go to the bondholders in addition to about 15% of the proceeds from asset disposals, according to The Times.

INM is attempting to sell price comparison service Verivox and online gambling company Cashcade, with a total price tag of €150m.

The amount of debt still outstanding after the payments would then be converted into a new bond.

The company, in a statement, said: "The Company has put forward a comprehensive refinancing proposal -- while not yet agreed by any stakeholder -- which will require all stakeholders making some necessary material concessions in order to achieve significant deleveraging for INM.

"One element of this proposal involves INM seeking to raise some capital, subject to shareholder approval, by way of a deeply-discounted rights offering in order to partly repay the Bonds."

The two men who own most of the company, Sir Antony O'Reilly and Denis O'Brien, are likely to participate in the rights issue to avoid their stakes being diluted.

INM is resorting to raising money from shareholders after the bondholders rejected a previous offer that would have seen O'Reilly and O'Brien pay them €30m in cash and 10% of the proceeds of INM's asset disposals.

According to the Financial Times, bondholders had proposed that they themselves underwrite a rights issue, which would have given them 90% of the company's shares if existing shareholders chose not to put in more money.

Any potential sale of The Independent and Independent on Sunday is not expected to affect the discussions with bondholders because the titles are unlikely to raise much money.

The €200m refinancing is not the only pressing debt problem INM has, according to the Financial Times, which reports that INM is also in danger of breaching covenants on a further €653m of secured debt held by a syndicate of eight banks.

Russian billionaire and Evening Standard owner Alexander Lebedev is understood to be in discussions about acquiring the titles, though this has been denied by INM chief executive Gavin O'Reilly.

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