IDB-bondholder Talks Stall

Debt talks between IDB Holding Corp and its bondholders have stalled, representatives of the bondholders said in a statement Friday. The representative group made its announcement after meeting last Thursday with representatives of IDB Holding Corporation.

“For the past three months, we’ve been engaged in talks with the company,” the statement read. “We set guidelines but it seems that the company has interpreted them as negotiable.”

The statement continued: “It has become clear that the company is unwilling to move forward with even a single clause of the debt arrangement outline. In light of the company’s unwillingness to move forward in the talks, we have no choice but to conclude that negotiations have reached a stalemate.”

IDB Holding Corp owes its bondholders about NIS 1.7 billion.

The statement added that in light of the situation, the bondholders’ representatives must seek alternatives to negotiations, such as taking control of the company.

As far as the bondholders were concerned, the fundamental principles discussed a large transfer of funds to the company from its owners, switching some debt for equity, and a new repayment schedule in which some of the debt would be repaid in a "reasonable time frame.”

“It should be noted that at first, the company accepted almost none of these principles and labored under the delusion that it could go on without a debt arrangement,” the representative agency’s statement read. “After the talks began, the company accepted these important principles, but the gaps in fulfilling each of them are still significant.”

A spokesperson for IDB Holdings Corporation commented, “The talks are continuing, and we hope they will end in a fair arrangement.”