BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-NII Holdings concluded the renegotiation of its debt with its creditors, reducing it from US$2.8 billion to less than US$500 million, in exchange for 64 percent of the company’s shares. By doing this, the companies ended the legal procedures related to Chapter 11.
The Reorganization Plan was approved on 28 October by the U.S. Court for the District of Delaware and took effect as of 12 November.
While the original proposal indicated that Nextel Communications would retain 45 percent of NII Holidings, it was finally agreed that it will retain 36 percent, transferring the rest of the shares to its former creditors, except Motorola. Besides, the company in Argentina-which was the only partner that had debt outside of its parent company-was permitted to include its debt of US$108 million in the company’s reorganization plan.
NII Holdings, formerly known as Nextel International, has 1.24 million customers in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Peru. During the third quarter of the year, it reported income of US$191 million, with US$19.2 million of operating gains and a positive cash flow record of US$40.5 million. These figures are a change to the company’s norm, as in the same period last year, the operating cash flow of the company showed a loss of US$28.6 million.
