RusAl issued a statement Thursday saying it had agreed on key terms with the coordinating committee of lenders, promising to repay $5 billion by the end of 2013 and to refinance its remaining debt for an additional three years.
But many of the 70 banks involved are not on the committee and saw the draft proposal for the first time only a day before meeting in Paris on Wednesday evening, a banking source told Reuters.
“There are a sizeable number of banks who remain to be convinced, and that will be the work of the next days and weeks,” the source said. “Reaction to this was mixed.”
Foreign banks view a successful conclusion to restructuring talks with RusAl, controlled by Oleg Deripaska, as a gauge of Russia’s ability to manage $475 billion in foreign debt accrued before markets crashed in the second half of 2008.
Deripaska called the agreement with the coordinating committee a “landmark restructuring” and RusAl said it expected to settle its debt to international banks within seven years.
RusAl said principal repayment would be on a “pay-if-you-can” basis for the first four years. Interest will be paid partly in cash at rates ranging from 1.75 to 3.5 basis points over the London interbank offered rate, with the remaining portion to be capitalized.
“To preserve cash for lenders and the business, no dividends will be paid until such a time that net debt to EBITDA reaches three times,” the company said in the statement.
Two other sources with knowledge of the Paris meeting said the proposal had received a positive reception among creditors, but they said more paperwork was required to finalize a deal.
RusAl, with debts totaling $16.8 billion, suffered when aluminum more than halved in value between July’s record high and the end of 2008.
The company had borrowed heavily to finance acquisitions abroad and build several new smelters in its Siberian heartland.
It also spent $4.5 billion on a one-quarter stake in Norilsk Nickel in a deal trumpeted at the time as a precursor to a full merger between the country’s two largest non-ferrous metals companies.
Sources at creditor banks said Tuesday that the proposed deal with RusAl requires it to sell the prized Norilsk stake to cover debts to state banks. The sale would be triggered by a price formula.
RusAl said in e-mailed comments that the deal had no “strict conditions” to sell the Norilsk stake.
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