NTL plans remain on track
Cable operator NTL today said its exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the UK remained on track despite reports a deal will not be finalised in 2002.
The company is known to be on the brink of agreeing a life-saving restructuring of £6.9 bn (€10.64bn) of debt.
NTL’s target of escaping Chapter 11 by late November has already been dashed and The Times said last-minute legal wrangling between the company and its creditors had now put paid to any chance of a deal by the end of the year.
The cable operator has not set a new deadline but today stuck by earlier comments that it expected to emerge from Chapter 11 in the “very near future”.
It is thought that the outstanding issues are not substantive.
The US parent of NTL filed for Chapter 11 earlier in the year after debts spiralled on the back of a spending spree at the height of the tech boom.
Under the restructuring proposals, NTL plans to become two businesses – NTL UK and NTL Euroco – with the debt mountain converted to equity.
Rival operator Telewest is also in the latter stages of the same process and it is thought the pair could pursue a tie-up once their futures are secured.
