Punch Taverns sets the date for its third restructuring proposal
PUNCH Taverns said yesterday that it will announce a fresh plan next month to restructure its £2.4bn debt pile after lenders rejected two earlier proposals put forward by the pub group’s board.
Punch, which has over 4,000 pubs in the UK, has already warned that it could be unable to continue trading unless a deal can be reached over its debt built up after an acquisition spree in the last decade.
Its management, led by executive chairman Stephen Billingham, said yesterday that it continues to be in talks with shareholders and creditors who hold various different classes, and plans to table a revised plan at the beginning of December.
The group has been at loggerheads for months with a group of senior lenders represented by a special committee set up by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) who rejected earlier proposals as “too vague”.
The committee, which has the power to block a vote, said yesterday it “believes that a fair and reasonable consensual deal could be reached between all stakeholders”.