Headlines

Etihad Airways is holding talks with Jet Airways Ltd and its bankers on a rescue plan for the debt-laden Indian carrier, two sources aware of the matter told Reuters. Executives from Etihad and Jet have met some of the airline's bankers in Mumbai in recent days to discuss ways to address its cash flow issues and evaluate the carrier's future business plan, the sources said.

EU finance ministers have agreed on steps to bolster the eurozone against future financial crises, striking a deal after negotiations that went through the night and pitted French-led reform ambitions against the reluctance of northern European capitals to share more financial risk, the Financial Times reported.

Ireland’s richest man has been forced in the face of an investor backlash to sweeten the terms of a plan to postpone repaying $3bn in debt at his Caribbean telecoms company. Denis O’Brien is seeking more time for Digicel to repay debt amid anxiety about a possible default on a $2bn bond due in 2020, the Financial Times reported. This debt, and another $1bn bond due in 2022, are at the centre of long-running talks between Mr O’Brien and his investors.

Investors are fleeing from Thomas Cook’s debt as well as its shares, amid growing concerns about the company’s debt burden as it battles deep changes in its industry, the Financial Times reported. The cost to hedge against the possible default by tour operator Thomas Cook has almost doubled in the space of a week, while the yield on its 2022 bonds jumped more than 650 bps during Tuesday morning’s trading session in London according to data from Refinitiv.

Bahrain went from being a bond-market pariah to a darling this year after its Gulf neighbors came to its rescue to ward off any default. But falling oil prices have brought the island kingdom’s finances into focus again, Bloomberg News reported. After outperforming its Gulf peers in the third quarter, Bahrain’s dollar debt has been hurt by crude’s slump in the past two months. Investors are concerned about the government’s ability to put its austerity plan into action, with oil prices well below what it needs to balance its budget.

Pockets of trouble in credit markets can originate in the most unlikely of spots, and that’s particularly true in China, Bloomberg News reported. From freezing Harbin in the north to tropical Hainan in the south, developers in Asia’s biggest economy have gorged on debt over the past decade and now owe global bond investors $114 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg show. With demand in some rural regions now cooling and authorities narrowing funding options, the credit shakeout that bears have been predicting for years could be at hand.

Less than a decade after the financial crisis nearly tore the euro area apart, a long-anticipated push to shore up the single currency finally started taking shape at a meeting of the bloc’s finance ministers, though it will likely underwhelm those calling for tighter integration, Bloomberg News reported. The compromise struck around 8 a.m. Tuesday after almost 16 hours of talks in Brussels paves the way for advances in areas from debt sustainability to a possible euro-zone budget.

Oman’s Raysut Cement said on Tuesday it plans to acquire Kenya’s ARM Cement, which went into administration in August, as part of its expansion plans. Raysut has expressed its interest to the administrators to acquire the company, it said in a statement. “The acquisition will complement Raysut’s revised strategy to manufacture clinker in proximity to the markets it supplies to in East Africa,” Raysut said in the statement, adding that the acquisition was estimated to be worth more than $100 million, Reuters reported.

Egypt’s EFG Hermes will expand its debt restructuring and securitisation activities next year, the co-head of its investment banking division said. Hermes is advising on four merger and acquisition (M&A) deals expected in the first half of 2019 as well as a major M&A deal in Saudi Arabia’s health sector due to be completed next year, Mostafa Gad told Reuters. Hermes, the Middle East’s largest investment bank, operates in countries including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Pakistan and Jordan, Reuters reported.

A Saudi business empire that defaulted on billions in loans during the global financial crisis is trying to settle its debts through the kingdom’s new bankruptcy laws, posing a test for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s economic modernization efforts, The Wall Street Journal reported. Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi and Brothers sparked a nearly decadelong dispute in 2009 when the firm defaulted on loans from a range of international and regional banks, leading to accusations of financial impropriety.