New York Investor ‘Confident’ Irish Debt Spat Accord Possible
By Dara Doyle - Apr 29, 2011 11:08 AM GMT+0200 Fri Apr 29 09:08:58 GMT 2011
One of the two New York-based investment firms challenging Irish plans to share losses with
Allied Irish Banks Plc (ALBK) bondholders said it is “confident a mutually acceptable” resolution can be found.
Abadi & Co. and Aurelius Capital Management LP filed cases on April 20 against the Irish government’s plans to change the terms of Dublin-based Allied Irish’s subordinated debt. The bank is 93 percent state owned.
“We would be willing to enter into a constructive dialogue with the finance minister,” Carlos Abadi, president of Abadi & Co., said in an e-mailed response to questions. The Irish proposals “would appear to interfere with fundamental property rights of creditors,” he said.
The cases would be the first test of the Irish plan to share the 70 billion-euro ($103.7 billion) cost of bailing out financial system with bondholders.
The two cases are “entirely unfounded” and the government remains “fully committed” to burden sharing with subordinated bondholders, Finance Minister
Michael Noonan said on April 22. Noonan has said he expects the bank to discount bonds by as much as 80 percent.
On April 14, the government won an order from the
High Court in Dublin allowing Noonan to change the terms of Allied Irish debt, using bank laws introduced last year in the wake of Ireland’s financial collapse. The Irish state has already poured 7.2 billion euros into the bank, which needs another 13.3 billion euros in capital, according to stress tests.
Court Ruling
The judgment makes the payment of interest on some debt optional and lifts restrictions on buybacks or redemptions of some junior bonds. The same day, Noonan
said the Dublin-based bank will seek to buy back debt, allowing bondholders “voluntarily exit” their investments.
If that isn’t successful, the
government will take “whatever other action is necessary to ensure appropriate burden sharing,” Noonan said in a statement on April 14.
A compromise may be possible way “if the parties sit down and negotiate in good faith,” said Abadi, who declined to say how much Allied Irish debt he owns or when he bought it.
“One possibility would consist in a non-coercive liability management exercise which would enable AIB to raise significant capital while not tarnishing the image of either the bank or Ireland in the international capital markets,” Abadi said.
Allied Irish has raised 2.97 billion euros over the past two years from buying back and exchanging subordinated bonds at discounts to face value.
The challenges are due to be heard in the
High Court in Dublin next month. A spokesman for the finance minister said yesterday there was no further update to the April 22 statement.
In a letter to Noonan and the bank seen by Bloomberg News, Aurelius said the government is displaying a “disregard for the basic precepts of fairness and due process.” Aurelius had no comment to make, according to spokeswoman Jennifer Burner.
New York Investor ?Confident? Irish Debt Spat Accord Possible - Bloomberg