Telewest debt deal put to the vote
Nick Goodway, Evening Standard
21 May 2004
SHAREHOLDERS in Telewest, Britain's second-largest cable operator, were expected to approve a massive debt-for-equity swap at a meeting in London today.
The move would leave them with just 1.5% of the company, which has been carrying out a £3.5bn financial reconstruction.
Assuming that the required 75% vote goes through (and 50% of it is already guaranteed by major blocks of shareholders) and that bondholders similarly agree next month, the company will be renamed Telewest Global and its listing will be moved to New York's Nasdaq market.
Dealings in the new shares are expected to start in mid-July.
Previous attempts to close the deal have been blocked by bondholders led by American hedge fund manager Bill Huff, who stands to become the largest shareholder with 18.4% of the new company.
Other major holders will be Fidelity with 13.3%, Franklin (8.1%), Liberty Media (7.9%) and Angelo Gordon (7.2%).
Fidelity also holds 15% of NTL, Britain's largest cable company, while Huff has 12.9% and Franklin 8.3%.
That has revived talk of a merger between NTL and Telewest although even together they would still be considerably smaller than the competition, in the shape of BT Group and BSkyB.
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