Headlines

Iceland is returning to global bond markets for the first time in more than 18 months, marking another step in its recovery after the 2008 crisis that bankrupted its biggest banks and depressed the economy, the Financial TImes reported. The Nordic island is aiming to raise €500m in a five-year euro-denominated bond, according to people familiar with its plans, similar to a bond sale of December 2017. Proceeds will be used to buy back €352m of outstanding bonds. Running a budget surplus, Iceland has no immediate need for the remaining money raised.

Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. should quit coal-fired generation over the next 20 years, Greenpeace Africa said, even as the beleaguered South African power utility presses ahead with new plants, Bloomberg News reported. Such a shift would require a massive overhaul at Eskom since coal-fed power is the backbone of its fleet, with two new stations currently under construction. But the debt-strapped utility, which supplies more than 90% of South Africa’s electricity, is under fire from environmental groups who claim it’s far from ready for the global transition to cleaner fuels.

The last time Labour politicians governed Britain, they took a swathe of the banking industry into public ownership to avoid its collapse. More than a decade later, banks are growing worried about the party’s latest promise to nationalize utility firms -- a policy that could trigger a fresh set of multibillion pound losses, Bloomberg News reported. Lloyds Banking Group Plc, one of the country’s largest business lenders, has multiple exposures to the utility sector through swaps, derivatives and revolving credit facilities, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Leisure Cargo (LC) is to enter insolvency following the loss of contracts with TUI and another carrier. A spokesperson for the GSSA confirmed to The Loadstar it had begun insolvency proceedings at a court in Dusseldorf, with White & Case appointed trustees, The Loadstar reported. Reorganisation manager Tillmann Peeters, of Falkensteg Restrukturierung, said: “We want to stabilise business operations quickly and continue as smoothly as possible.

Intu Properties Plc, Philip Green-owned Arcadia’s second biggest landlord, is set to oppose the fashion group’s latest sweetened rescue plan, Sky News reported on Tuesday. Reuters reported. Arcadia last week offered better terms for landlords in a restructuring plan for the struggling British fashion retailer, seeking the support of creditors to prevent the group from collapsing into administration.

British retailer Debenhams has received a challenge from shareholder Sports Direct over a restructuring plan that wiped out investors but kept the company operating, Reuters reported. Debenhams is restructuring the chain using so-called company voluntary arrangements (CVAs), which allow retailers to avoid insolvency by offloading unwanted stores and secure lower rents on others and reach a compromise with creditors. The plan gave creditors control of the company in May, at the expense of investors.

Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum issued a new insolvency law on Tuesday for companies operating in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the largest financial hub in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, Reuters reported. The new law, due to come into effect in August, has been issued following the collapse of Dubai-based private equity firm Abraaj, which had a DIFC-regulated entity Abraaj Capital.

A Lusaka court said on Tuesday a hearing had been provisionally set for June 20 to consider an application by Vedanta Resources to be represented by its own lawyers in proceedings to wind up its Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) business in Zambia, lawyers said, Reuters reported. Vedanta Resources is challenging the appointment of a provisional liquidator without being given the chance to be heard through lawyers of its choice. The company said in a statement on Tuesday the court would confirm on June 17 whether it would go ahead with a hearing on Vedanta’s application on June 20.

Brazilian drugstore operator Brasil Pharma said on Tuesday a Sao Paulo court judge had approved the bankruptcy request it filed on June 6, when the company warned it could no longer obtain the resources to execute a restructuring plan, Reuters reported. According to a securities filing, the bankruptcy court has named Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Consultores as judicial administrator of Brasil Pharma’s in-court restructuring and ordered the sale of all of its brands. Brasil Pharma owns three different drugstore chains: Big Ben, Farmais and Farmacia Sant’anna.

The fate of Jet Airways is hanging in the balance and much rests on how today pans out. On one hand, reports suggest that the grounded carrier's lenders are expected to respond to the bailout conditions set by its strategic partner Etihad and the Hinduja Group this week, perhaps as early as Monday, and on the other hand Jet Airways is at risk of landing at bankruptcy court, Business Today reported. Two of the airline's operational creditors, Shaman Wheels and Gaggar Enterprises, have approached the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for the recovery of their dues.