The Irish High Court has approved the scheme of arrangement recommended by the Examiner to restructure Eircom Group. The court approval allows the three Group companies – Eircom, Meteor Mobile Communications and Irish Telecommunications Investments to exit examinership on the effective date of 11 June. From the effective date, the capital structure of Eircom Group will change and the Group's senior lenders will become the shareholders. At that time, the entire issued share capital will transfer to a company wholly owned by the senior lenders. Both ST Telemedia and the Employee Share Ownership Trust (ESOT) will cease be the Group's shareholders. The approved scheme will also significantly reduce the debt on the Group's balance sheet by reducing or writing off certain classifications of debt as approved at the recent creditors' meetings held on 18 May. Group debts on the balance sheet will be reduced by more than 40 percent to EUR 2.3 billion, down from EUR 4.1 billion. Unsecured trade creditors are unaffected by the scheme of arrangement and will continue to be paid in full for work completed in accordance with the terms of their contracts.
