TPI Polene Creditors approve debt buyback

Creditors of TPI Polene PCL have agreed in principle to let the Thai cement maker buy back as much as $110 million in debt, a TPI Polene executive and one of its creditors said.  "Creditors have agreed with our debt-buyback plan," said TPI Polene Chief Executive Prachai Leophairatana. "However, they didn’t accept our request for a reduction of accrued interest."

TPI Polene is undertaking to restructure $950m in principal debt and $150m in accrued interest, under the auspices of the country’s bankruptcy court.  One of TPI Polene’s creditors told Dow Jones Newswires the initial agreement was reached early this month.

Prachai said that after the debt buyback, TPI Polene is likely to be able to repay the remaining principal in five years and that further refinancing should reduce the interest burden.  He said earlier this month that the company was in talks with the state-owned Krung Thai Bank PCL to guarantee a planned issue of about $600 million of debentures intended to raise funds for debt refinancing.