Telegraph.co.uk – BAA is in urgent talks with a hedge fund client of investment bank UBS that is threatening to scupper the airport operator’s proposed £7.65bn refinancing.
As today’s deadline for bondholders to vote through a crucial part of the deal nears, the hedge fund was last night still refusing to accept BAA’s terms for transferring more than £225m of bonds into a new financing structure.
BAA is seeking agreement from holders of £4.7bn of bonds to "migrate" their debt into a new investment-grade, ring-fenced structure backed by Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports. Only if the bondholders agree to such "migration" can BAA begin to draw the £7.65bn of fresh loans put in place by a nine-strong banking syndicate.
