Here is the full article on Williams Communication:
Williams Communications' Gains
Approval for Reorganization Plan
Creditors approved the reorganization plan of Williams Communications Group
Inc., reorganization plan, setting the stage for the telecommunications company
to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings next month.
A New York federal bankruptcy judge still must approve the plan.
Williams Communications said its banks, which hold $725 million of debt,
approved the plan as did Williams Cos., its former parent company, which holds
$2.36 billion in debt. Among bondholders, who are owed $2.36 billion, nearly all
of those who cast ballots approved the plan.
Terms call for Leucadia National Corp., New York, to pay $330 million for a
45% stake. Leucadia also will invest $150 million, to be used to repay bank
debt, and will pay Williams Cos. $180 million for its $2.36 billion in debt.
Bondholders would get the remaining 55% stake. Current shareholders will be
wiped out.
The deal also calls for Williams Communications to repurchase its Tulsa, Okla.,
headquarters building for $150 million from Williams, an energy-pipeline and
-trading company that spun off the telecom carrier in April 2001.
Like many telecommunications companies, Williams Communications has
suffered from the glut in telecom capacity. It filed for protection from creditors
in April of this year after it was unable to renegotiate its debt. The filing is one
of the largest to date for a telecommunications firm. |
