AbitibiBowater officials were declining to comment on the negotiations except to say they were continuing.
The lenders had given AbitibiBowater Inc. until at first 6 p.m. and then midnight March 27 to negotiate a deal to restructure US$1.8-billion in debt at its American subsidiary Bowater Inc. This is the third deadline.
Business pundits widely believe the banks were holding out for better terms.
If a deal isn’t reached, the company will most-likely be forced to file for bankruptcy protection and future efforts to reduce its overall $6-billion debt load by over one-third would be placed in jeopardy.
Two shareholders, Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. and Steelhead Partners LLC have agreed to Abitibi’s plans based on cuts that have already been made at the company. The same aforementioned business pundits also believe the company would survive, even in the current economic climate, if the debt burden were greatly reduced.
AbitibiBowater has closed mills, laid off workers, and temporarily shuts down mills, including, currently, its Bowater Mersey Paper Company Ltd. mill in Brooklyn, Queens Co.
The Advance was unable to contact the two Union Local presidents involved with the Brooklyn mill.
Still no word on AbitibiBowater deal despite deadlines
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Published on
March 29, 2009
- Published on January 31, 2010
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Mark Roberts/The
Various media sources were reporting at deadline that Citibank, one of three American banks holding up an AbitibiBowater financial restructuring deal, is willing to participate in a proposed debt swap. But, as the weekend passed, nothing had been released to the public. Go to the Queens Co. section of novanewsnow.com for up to date information.
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