Eddie Stobart given breathing space by creditors ahead of takeover vote
Struggling haulier Eddie Stobart has been given more than a year’s extra time to get its finances in order by its creditors as it prepares to put a takeover deal to its shareholders.
Allied Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland, BNP Paribas, and KBC – who are owed £200m between them – will postpone loan repayments until next summer and not put Eddie Stobart’s finances through rigorous checks until 2021.
Read more: Eddie Stobart agrees to £55m rescue package
The plan, first reported by the Sunday Telegraph, was initiated by Dbay Advisors, an Isle of Man investment group that has offered an emergency loan in a bid to gain control of Eddie Stobart.
Dbay’s bid for the company was given a major boost on Friday when advisory group Pirc recommended Eddie Stobart shareholders vote for the deal.
The £55m high-interest loan is part of a takeover deal that has been approved by Eddie Stobart’s board but will be voted on by shareholders on 6 December.
The deal would see Dbay regain control of Eddie Stobart, which it floated in 2017, and try to turn around the scandal-hit firm.
The haulier has been in crisis since auditors revealed a number of accounting discrepancies three months ago. Accountants PwC are yet to finalise and sign off the firm’s accounts for the half-year to May.
Eddie Stobart’s shares were suspended from trading on the London Stock Exchange’s Aim market and its chief executive Alex Laffey stood down.