BTA Said to Weigh Debt Overhaul, Capital Boost From Kazakhstan
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BTA Bank may ask the Kazakh government to back its second debt restructuring or provide additional state funds to help avert bankruptcy, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter, Bloomberg reported. BTA may seek a capital injection of more than $4 billion, said the people, who declined to be identified because the information isn’t public. Lazard Freres & Co., which acted as an adviser to BTA during its debt reorganization in 2009, assessed the cost of another restructuring last month, the people said. Investors may be asked to absorb an estimated loss of about 80 percent on BTA bonds, the people said. The bank is preparing to submit a bailout plan to a new government that will be formed following parliamentary elections set for the middle of January, the people said, adding that BTA is considering either a restructuring or a capital increase or both. Kazakh sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna took over BTA in February 2009, two months before the nation’s largest lender at the time defaulted on $12 billion of debt. It won 92 percent creditor approval of a restructuring plan in May 2010. The state holds an 81.5 percent stake in BTA. Read more.