UK cable group, Telewest Communications, is understood to be meeting with its bank this week to discuss the expected restructure of its £5.3 billion debt burden (see Telewest Moving Closer To Debt Swap Agreement).
The
Times today reports that £2.25 billion of debt could waived as early as next week, in the first step toward the full-scale financial restructuring. Telewest is very likely to instigate a debt for equity swap, which will result in the company being owned almost entirely by its bank and bondholders.
This process has already been undertaken by Telewest’s only rival in the UK cable market, NTL (see NTL Rescue Plans Revealed). At some point after the two companies have finished their restructures, it is likely that they will merge to create a single UK cable TV and telephony operator.
