To: djane who wrote (5438 ) 6/29/1999 3:41:00 PM From: djane Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 29987
Iridium Expected to Receive 1-Month Bank Extension Tomorrow (via I* yahoo thread) Bloomberg News June 29, 1999, 12:02 p.m. PT Iridium Expected to Receive 1-Month Bank Extension Tomorrow Washington, June 29 (Bloomberg) -- Iridium LLC, operator of the first global satellite-based telephone network, is expected to get a one-month extension from banks to meet their conditions on $800 million in loans, analysts said. Iridium, which is 18 percent-owned by Motorola Inc. and is in the midst of restructuring its debt, is not expected to meet revenue and subscriber targets as required by the loan agreements. The loan extension will be the third one the banks have given the Washington-based company. Motorola and Iridium have hinted in recent weeks that an announcement about a restructuring is imminent, but tomorrow's news probably will only be the one- month extension, analysts said. ''The banks will roll over again,'' said Marc Crossman, an analyst at J.P. Morgan & Co., who has a ''market underperform'' rating on the stock. Iridium isn't expected to have an announcement about the restructuring yet because of the great disparity in bondholders' views about how much they want to receive in a restructuring, said Banc of America analyst Armand Musey, who has a ''hold'' rating on the stock. The real date by which analysts expect Iridium to have an announcement is Aug. 15. That's when Iridium has to make a bond- interest payment -- currently due July 15 -- for which it's expected to receive a one-month waiver, Merrill Lynch & Co. analyst Tom Watts said. Shares of Iridium World Communications Ltd., the company's public investment entity, rose 3/16 to 9 5/8 in late trading.