The Government of Sri Lanka today announced that it has held restricted discussions over the past three weeks (the “Restricted Period”) with nine members of the steering committee who agreed to take part in the restricted discussions (the “Steering Committee”) of the Ad Hoc Group of Bondholders (the “Group”, and together with Sri Lanka, the “Parties”) of its International Sovereign Bonds (“ISBs”).
Sri Lanka was joined by its legal and financial advisors, Clifford Chance and Lazard, respectively, and the restricted members of the Steering Committee were joined by the Group’s legal and financial advisors, White & Case and Rothschild & Co, respectively.
The Steering Committee as a whole comprises ten of the largest members of the Group, with the Group controlling approximately 50% of the aggregate outstanding amount of ISBs.
Despite constructive discussions, the Parties did not come to an agreement on restructuring terms. The Steering Committee did not agree to an extension of the restricted discussions upon expiration of the current Restricted Period.
During the Restricted Period, Sri Lanka, the Steering Committee and its advisors met during a two-day working session in London on 27 and 28 March 2024 (the “Meetings”) to discuss the Group’s latest debt treatment proposal, sent to Sri Lanka’s advisors on 11 March 2024 (the “Group’s March Proposal”).
Prior to the meetings, on 25 March 2024, Sri Lanka had also sent, through its advisors, its own debt treatment proposal to the Group’s advisors (“Sri Lanka’s Proposal”) which was rejected by the Steering Committee.
Prior to the Meetings, staff at the International Monetary Fund (the “IMF”) provided their preliminary and informal assessment of both Parties’ proposals’ consistency with Sri Lanka’s IMF-supported program (the “IMF-Supported Program”) parameters and debt sustainability objectives. The IMF staff assessment included an analysis of the sum total of restructuring proposals (for official and private creditors) based on agreed deals with certain creditors and the Sri Lankan authorities’ restructuring scenario for other creditors.
On that basis, the IMF staff concluded that the debt treatment scenario included in Sri Lanka’s Proposal was consistent with the IMF-Supported Program debt sustainability targets, while the scenario included in the Group’s March Proposal was not. IMF staff noted that these were preliminary assessments and the IMF staff would provide final assessments only after the Parties had reached a tentative agreement in principle.
During the Meetings, it was agreed that the primary basis for the discussions would be the Group’s March Proposal. Sri Lanka articulated the main reservations it had in relation to the Group’s proposed Macro-Linked Bond (“MLB”) – while members of the Steering Committee articulated the reasons why they believed the terms of their MLB proposal were fair and reasonable.
The Steering Committee also suggested the possible introduction of a Governance Linked Bond, which Sri Lanka said it would consider subject to being provided with more details of this proposal.
Read more : https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/70ZL/conclusion-of-initial-restricted-discussions/16425024 (Newswire)
