The board of directors and management of Norske Skog are pleased to announce that it has managed to broker a consensual solution between the Unsecured Committee, the Senior Secured Noteholder Committee and major shareholders. The two bondholder committees and the major shareholders have agreed on a split of the equity ownership of Norske Skogindustrier ASA, following the recapitalization transaction that these groups will support. With this development, over 80% of the senior secured noteholders and more than 50% of the unsecured noteholders have now indicated their willingness to support such an adjusted recapitalization proposal.
Therefore, the relevant boards in the Norske Skog group have resolved to revise the terms of the ongoing consent solicitation in accordance with the split agreed. The formal consent solicitation deadline is extended until Wednesday 25 October at 17:00 CET to allow adequate time for the group’s noteholders to submit their formal consents.
“We are very pleased that the representatives of the bondholder committees and shareholders have bridged the gap in economic distance, and that a material portion of our largest creditors and shareholders are supportive of the recapitalization proposal. Now, I urge all stakeholders of the Norske Skog group to provide their consents to the recapitalization proposal so that the requisite consent thresholds can be reached. As repeatedly stated, all alternatives to a consensual solution will entail significantly less value for all parties and rather complicated insolvency processes”, says Mr. Christen Sveaas, chairman of Norske Skogindustrier ASA.
Compared to the recapitalization proposal launched on 11 October, the changes made to the split of the equity ownership of Norske Skogindustrier ASA after the recapitalization (before any new money offering) will be as follows (11 October proposal in parentheses):
a. Secured noteholders: 90.75 % (91.0 %) b. Unsecured noteholders: 6.75 % (6.3 %) c. Existing shareholders: 2.50 % (2.7 %)
All holders of relevant Norske Skog bonds must provide their consents through their respective bond custodians, and are encouraged to contact the following persons on all matters related to the consent solicitation:
http://www.norskeskog.com/Default.aspx?ID=2890&t=2017-10-18T11:05:29+02:00