A Paris court has approved a rescue plan for Eurotunnel, which operates the undersea rail tunnel linking northern France to southern England. But the court said the proposals must be applied within 37 months.
Approval by the Paris commercial court of a financial restructuring package to halve a debt mountain means that Eurotunnel, which had warned that it would run out of funds at the beginning of 2007, can avoid filing for bankruptcy.
The court, which had granted Eurotunnel protection from its creditors in August, gave the company 37 months to apply the rescue plan.
Under the rescue, which has been accepted by creditors, the company's debt of €9 billion is to be halved and a new company, called Groupe Eurotunnel, is to be created by means of an offer to shareholders to swap their shares.
