|  Updated: 

INM days from bank debt deal

By:

Add as a preferred source on Google

Independent News & Media (INM) could be just days from a refinancing proposal that includes a debt-for-equity swap to pay a long-overdue €200m (£176m) bond.

Any deal would dilute the stakes of its shareholders – including founder Sir Anthony O’Reilly and second-largest shareholder Denis O’Brien – but would give management breathing space to steer the company towards a sounder financial footing.

INM’s banks are understood to have agreed to the cash and equity plan, and to extend the firm’s €1.3bn in loans until 2014 as part of the deal.