Nortel Sells Argentina Impsat Debt To Morgan Stanley,Huff
11/30/2004
Dow Jones News Services
(Copyright © 2004 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)
BUENOS AIRES (Dow Jones)--Nortel Networks Corp. (NT) has sold $147.6 million in loans and convertible bonds of Argentine broadband Internet provider Impsat Fiber Networks (IMFN) to Morgan Stanley (MWD) and New Jersey-based investment fund W.R. Huff Asset Management.
According to a filing Impsat made last week to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc. and Huff entity WRH Partners Global Securities LP acquired about $130 million in Impsat debt and $17.6 million in Impsat Series B convertible bonds from Nortel's principal operating unit, Nortel Networks Limited. Morgan Stanley and Huff already held equity stakes in the Argentine company.
According to a Tuesday report in local financial daily El Cronista, Nortel still owns Series A convertible bonds of Impsat, as well as additional rights to purchase shares of the Argentine Internet provider. The newspaper said Nortel, Morgan Stanley and Huff's collective stake in Impsat is about 42.5%.
"For us, it doesn't imply any impact," Impsat Chief Financial Officer Hector Alonso told El Cronista. "The debt passed from one shareholder to another. We take it as a vote of confidence in meeting the debt (obligation)."
The three loans that Nortel sold were part of a financing agreement Impsat reached with its creditors in March 2002, two months before it delisted from the Nasdaq and three months before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The Series B convertible bonds, which can be turned into shares in 2011, were also issued as part of the creditor agreement.
Impsat had a $200 million IPO in early 2000 but was subsequently pummeled during Argentina's economic meltdown in 2001 and 2002. |
