Spain's Abengoa gets creditor backing for standstill

 

Spain's Abengoa said on Monday it had obtained backing from 75% of its creditors for a seven-month standstill agreement, which it filed to a court in Seville as it seeks more time to restructure its debt.

The standstill agreement prevents creditors from demanding pre-payment and is aimed at giving the struggling renewable energy and engineering firm some breathing space after a legal period protecting it from lenders expires on Monday.

Abengoa is trying to restructure a 9.4 billion-euro debt load and needs backing from 75% of creditors for a plan to slash its borrowings and gives banks and bondholders equity in return.

It needed at least 60% of lenders to back the standstill in order to enforce it.

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