RBS, Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays agree to write off 拢87m of debt in return for majority ownership

Handshake

Source:

Mouchel鈥檚 bankers - RBS, Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays - have taken an 80% stake in the company as part of a restructuring deal to save the company, the consultant鈥檚 chief executive Grant Rumbles has disclosed.

The banks agreed to write off 拢87m debt in return for 鈥渕ajority鈥 ownership of the consultant. Mouchel will delist from the stock exchange on 25 September as part of the restructuring, with existing shareholders receiving just 1p per ordinary share.

Rumbles told 黑洞社区 he expected the company would look to exit the deal - possibly through a stock market flotation - in three to five years鈥 time.

He said that Mouchel鈥檚 management would retain 20% of the ownership of the company under a management incentive plan.

He said Mouchel had a 鈥渟trong underlying business鈥, but that the burden of its 拢87m debt mountain had proved unsustainable. The deal with the banks will secure 8,000 jobs.

Mouchel鈥檚 share price has collapsed from 384.5p on 5 January 2009 after three profit warnings - including an 拢8.5m profit warning last October - and failed takeover bids from rival consultants Costain and Interserve.