Headlines

Steinhoff International Holdings NV won support from a majority of creditors to restructure its 9.4 billion euros ($11 billion) of debt, seen by the embattled retailer as a vital step toward its recovery from an accounting scandal, Bloomberg News reported. The owner of Conforama in France and Mattress Firm in the U.S. sought a three-year extension to payments due to lenders and bondholders as the South African company repairs its balance sheet.

Abraaj Group Ltd. is being sued by one of the founders of a Turkish dairy maker that the embattled buyout firm is trying to sell, according to people familiar with the matter. The legal action comes as liquidators of Dubai-based Abraaj seek to dispose of assets in developing nations around the world to help repay more than $1 billion in debt, Bloomberg News reported.

Three distressed asset funds have sued for the right to participate in a 4 billion reais ($1 billion) capital increase for Brazilian telecom Oi SA as part of its in-court restructuring, four sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters this week. The fight for the chance to invest in Oi, Brazil’s largest fixed line carrier, reveals a sharp turnaround in investors’ perception of a company that flirted with liquidation a year ago, Reuters reported.

Steinhoff, extended for a second time on Wednesdaythe "early bird fee" deadline for creditors to sign a three-year agreement to hold off their debt claims, as the scandal-hit South African retailer battles to stay afloat, Nasdaq reported. Steinhoff wants to restructure its roughly nine billion euro debt after disclosing holes in its balance sheet that wiped more than 90 percent off its market value and forced it into asset sales to fund working capital.

Reliance Industries Ltd., India’s second-largest company by market value, plans to raise about 400 billion rupees ($5.8 billion) in fresh debt this financial year as it expands its consumer businesses, according to people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News reported. The billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led company will raise funds through loans and bonds, mostly in the Indian currency, the people said asking not to be named as they are not authorized to speak to the media.

Once the outcast of European bond markets, Greece appears firmly on the road to redemption. After years of austerity, the expiry of an 86 billion euro ($100 billion) bailout in August will mark the end of an era in which Greece defaulted, 10-year yields topped 40 percent and the country came perilously close to being kicked out of the euro, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story.

Russia's VTB Capital-backed Numetal on Tuesday said Ruia family scion Rewant will never be in management of Essar Steel even though the rules do not bar blood relations of delinquent promoters from bidding for loan defaulter companies being auctioned to recover dues, Firstpost reported. During the proceedings of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), senior advocate Mihir Thakore representing Numetal said that the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (IBC) does not disqualify anyone based on blood relations. Aurora Enterprises Ltd (AEL) had a 25 percent shareholding in Numetal.

Rivers State Internal Revenue Service, RSIRS, has again sealed off the Port Harcourt head-office of Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, over alleged tax liabilities, disrupting activities at the commission, yesterday. The state government had in April picketed the commission for allegedly owing her withholding tax estimated at over N600 million according to the RSIRS chairman, Adoage Norteh, but the tax body had backed down after a settlement understanding was reached between parties, Vanguard reported.

Lenders to the bankrupt Videocon Industries have filed an insolvency petition against 13 subsidiaries of the Venugopal Dhoot-led company to recover their dues, sources close to the development told FE. Most of these subsidiaries are likely to be admitted by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for insolvency proceeding by next month, Financial Express reported. The insolvency petition against Videocon Industries, which was filed by State Bank of India (SBI) in January, was admitted by the tribunal on June 6.

The rate of personal insolvencies in Sunderland has significantly increased over the last two years, official data has revealed. In 2015, 24.8 adults per 10,000 were declared insolvent in Sunderland, according to Insolvency Service figures. However by 2017 that figure had risen to 28.1, an increase of 13.6%, the Sunderland Echo reported. Insolvency is when someone cannot pay their debts, and has to arrange a plan with an official body to pay off creditors. This can include being declared bankrupt.