Thomson: the debt restructuring approved

The Thomson group, experiencing great financial difficulties, has obtained the agreement of all its creditors to reduce its debt by nearly half, according to a statement.

After the Committee of suppliers and the Committee of the bank creditors on Monday, the Committee of the bond (bond holders of the Company) has approved almost unanimously the plan released December 9. The plan aims to transform part of the debt capital via a capital increase of 348 million euros – and bonds: the objective is to reduce it to 1.55 billion, a decrease of 45%. The debt of the company amounts to 2.84 billion euros.

But there are still some hurdles for the group. The restructuring plan must be submitted to a vote of shareholders of Thomson at the Annual General Meeting and extraordinary will be held January 27, 2010.

Thomson, which employs some 20,000 employees worldwide, intends to rename the name of one of its subsidiaries, Technicolor, and focus on services for film and television, getting rid of other activities, including its subsidiaries Grass Valley (professional video equipment) and Screenvision (advertising for the film).

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