Intrum seeks U.S. bankruptcy protection to restructure $4.7 bln net debt (updated)

Intrum AB

18/10/2024 06:38

(Adds background in paragraphs 2, 4-5, quote in paragraph 3)
       COPENHAGEN, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Intrum  INTRUM.ST ,
Europe's biggest debt collector, said on Friday it will file for
voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States
as it seeks to restructure its own finances.
    The company has struggled as the pandemic, an energy crisis
and two-decade-high interest rates failed to unleash a wave of
loan defaults, with concerns mounting over Intrum's net debt of
49.4 billion Swedish crowns ($4.69 billion) at the end of June.
        "Intrum expects to emerge from the prepackaged Chapter
11 process and the Swedish company reorganisation process with
ample runway and liquidity to execute its business plan and
positioned for long term growth and success," it said in a
statement.
  
        Intrum had won support for a debt restructuring from 73%
of its noteholders, enough for a U.S. Chapter 11 procedure but
short of the 75% needed to 
    qualify
     for a simpler process under English law or a 90% threshold
for an all-voluntary process.
  
        Achieving higher levels of consent would simplify the
implementation and reduce costs, CEO Andres Rubio said in July,
adding that 90% would be optimal, with 
    two-thirds
     the bare minimum requirement.
  

($1 = 10.5304 Swedish crowns)

 (Reporting by Stine Jacobsen, editing by Terje Solsvik)
 ((stine.jacobsen@thomsonreuters.com; +45 2156 90 10;))