Eurotunnel, operator of the Channel Tunnel, is to cut its debt mountain by more than £400m sterling.
The group, which has debts of £6.4bn, is to raise new long term finance and use the proceeds to buy back existing debt. Chief executive Richard Shirrefs said Eurotunnel's business was making good progress.
Eurotunnel's debt mountain is the legacy of construction costs of the tunnel - opened in 1994 - which saw the project cost significantly more than planned.
Eurotunnel - which once had debt of nearly £10bn - said the move would cut interest charges by at least £30m a year from 2006 onwards.
Last month, Eurotunnel reported wider losses for the year of £147m. The group paid interest of £330m on its debt, while trading had been affected by the collapse of the telecoms market, foot and mouth and floods in France and the UK.
