Puerto Rico Board Strikes Tentative Debt Deal With Creditors
Puerto Rico’s financial oversight board reached a tentative agreement with investors on how to reduce $18 billion of bond debt and is seeking additional time to file a formal adjustment plan to the court.
The board Wednesday asked a court overseeing Puerto Rico’s record bankruptcy to give the panel and creditors more time to finalize an accord, according to a court document. The board is seeking to file a debt restructuring plan by March 8. It had a Feb. 10 deadline to submit a plan or term sheet.
The deal involves owners of more than $7 billion of Puerto Rico bonds who signed on to an earlier debt plan from February 2020, except for one firm that may no longer hold Puerto Rico securities, according to the court filing.
The board didn’t provide any details, including prospective repayment amounts, but hopes to release such information “within a week,” according to the court filing.
“We requested that the court grant more time to continue the mediation process, set down the agreed terms in a plan support agreement, and extend support for the agreement across a broad spectrum of creditor groups for a fair and affordable plan of adjustment that will enable Puerto Rico’s economy to grow and the people of Puerto Rico to prosper,” Natalie Jaresko, executive director of the oversight board, said in a statement Wednesday.
Puerto Rico has been in bankruptcy since May 2017, but hurricanes, earthquakes, political turmoil and the coronavirus outbreak have delayed the commonwealth’s attempt to restructure its debt and fix an unfunded pension system where all payments to retirees come from the island’s operating budget. Resolving those obligations are the biggest issues remaining in Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy.
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