
PARIS (AP) -- Euro Disney SCA said Tuesday its lenders have agreed unanimously to extend a debt plan designed to keep the troubled theme park operator afloat.
The agreement comes two days before a deadline for Euro Disney to strike a debt restructuring plan to avert bankruptcy. The company is 39 percent-owned by The Walt Disney Co., which is based in Burbank, Calif.
The plan had been delayed over the past year as Euro Disney struggled to get lenders to agree on a new deal. Its main banks - Credit Agricole, BNP Paribas and Caisse des Depots et Consignations - had already approved the 2.4 billion euro ($3 billion) agreement.
In the deal, the interest rate on 450 million euros ($553 million) of Euro Disney's senior debt will be increased, and a repayment deadline on some debt will be delayed by two years until 2014.
The agreement is to take effect Friday, pending regulatory and other needed approvals, the company said. Euro Disney will be able to break some terms of its original loans without triggering bankruptcy.
Chief financial officer Jeffrey Speed said the deal would provide enough cash to help Euro Disney work through volatile market conditions and invest in new rides and attractions.
Trading in shares of Euro Disney was suspended on the Paris stock exchange shortly before the announcement.
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Created: 9/28/2004 4:32:39 PM 


