NAC secures debt standstill vote
Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) has secured creditor approval for a standstill on payments relating to more than €5 billion ($5.6 billion) of debt.
In votes carried out on 9 July, secured and unsecured lenders voted unanimously in favour of the scheme, the lessor says.
The agreement provides a six-month standstill on interest payments, nine-month standstill on amortisation and 12-month deferral on bullet payments on final maturity.
For the scheme to be approved, 75% in value and 50% in number of creditors were required to vote in favour.
As part of the deal, unsecured lenders will receive a higher level of security on their debts.
NAC must now return to the Irish High Court on 10 July to provide an update on the creditor vote and to seek a hearing date for the sanction of the scheme. This hearing is likely to take place in or around 21 July 2020.
The lessor had previously secured a scheme of arrangement from the court and filed for Chapter 15 in the USA, which protects it from lawsuits by US creditors while it reorganises itself in another country.
NAC attempted to gain creditor approval for the debt standstill scheme in late June but postponed the vote to 9 July due to opposition from unsecured lenders who were unhappy with the terms of the deal.
Rothschild & Co, Clifford Chance and McCann Fitzgerald advised NAC.
The lessor says the debt reorganisation will ensure its stability as the aviation market “gradually recovers” from the Covid-19 crisis.