Debenhams has cleared a hurdle in its attempt to push through a crucial restructuring plan, dealing a blow to a potential bid for the struggling retailer by Sports Direct chief executive Mike Ashley, the Financial Times reported. The department store chain said it had secured the support of a majority of its bondholders for a series of technical changes that help clear the way for a £200m refinancing. The approval puts Debenhams in a position to confirm the new funding in the coming days and move to pursue restructuring options to secure the future of the business.

Wow Air Hf has gone out of business, stranding thousands of passengers and creating potentially huge risks for Iceland’s tiny economy and its growing reliance on tourism, Bloomberg News reported. The discount carrier is the eighth European airline to have failed since the summer as margins are pinched by fluctuating fuel costs and over-capacity that’s sparked a continent-wide fare war. Wow’s demise should bring short-term relief to local rival Icelandair Hf.

Mitie Group Plc is not on the verge of launching a takeover bid for the biggest division of rival Interserve, Chief Executive Officer Phil Bentley said on Thursday, while saying the company would be foolish to “not keep in touch,” Reuters reported. Sky News reported here earlier this month, giving no details of its sources, that Mitie was drawing up plans to offer Interserve's new owners about 100 million pounds ($131.14 million) for its support services unit.

Bankers expect sales of high-yield bonds in Europe to remain depressed through the second quarter of 2019 owing to a sharp slowdown in M&A activity, as well as still relatively high funding costs that are deterring opportunistic issuers, Bloomberg News reported. Falling bond yields, a narrowing iTraxx Crossover Index and sustained fund inflows failed to boost new issuance volumes during the first quarter. Bond sales totaled 10.2 billion euros ($11.3 billion) in the first three months, down 45 percent on the same period of last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Germany has sold 10-year debt with a negative yield for the first time since the autumn of 2016, amid fears of a worsening global economic outlook, the Financial Times reported. Investors have moved into haven assets in recent weeks on rising concerns about slowdowns in major economies, such as Germany and the US. The move intensified after the US Federal Reserve last week ditched plans for raising interest rates this year.

Settlement talks are under way in the marathon case by Sean Quinn’s five adult children denying liability for some €410 million under guarantees of loans advanced by Anglo Irish Bank to Quinn companies, The Irish Times reported. Mr Justice Garrett Simons was told of the development at the High Court on Wednesday, just after he ruled the children cannot pursue claims that their father unduly influenced them to sign the securities and “effectively dictated” to them about the lending.

Billionaire Mike Ashley, vying with creditors for control of Debenhams Plc, is considering an offer that would value the troubled U.K. department-store chain’s equity at 61.4 million pounds ($81 million), Bloomberg News reported. Ashley’s Sports Direct International Plc, which already owns about 30 percent of Debenhams, said it’s weighing a bid worth 5 pence a share in cash. Before going firm on his offer, Ashley is demanding that Debenhams name him chief executive officer and halt a loan process, due to finish Thursday, that would lead to greater control for the company’s lenders.

EU ambassadors backed on Wednesday new rules to facilitate banks’ sales of bad loans on their books but failed to agree on a reform that would make it easier for lenders to recover assets from borrowers who default, Reuters reported. The proposed rules are part of a wider overhaul of EU banking rules and aim to accelerate banks’ efforts to offload soured loans, which have reduced European banks’ ability to lend to households and companies since the 2007-09 global financial crisis.

Twelve people were arrested in Croatia on Tuesday on suspicion of causing over one billion kuna ($152.16 million) in financial damage to the country’s biggest shipbuilding group Uljanik and the state budget, the interior minister said. Uljanik, which is 25 percent state-owned and operates two shipyards in the northern Adriatic cities of Pula and Rijeka, has been battling to stave off bankruptcy due to liquidity problems that began in 2017, Reuters reported. Workers are currently on strike, seeking unpaid wages.

Banks risk derailing a rescue deal for Europe’s largest zinc producer Nyrstar, threatening thousands of jobs in the process if the company is forced into liquidation, the Financial Times reported. Lenders to the Belgian-registered company are currently unwilling to take a loss on metal-for-loan deals as part of a restructuring deal that has been agreed by Nyrstar bondholders and Trafigura, its largest shareholder, according to people familiar with the matter.