Puerto Rico said creditors of the insolvent government development bank agreed to accept losses by exchanging their bonds for new securities, moving the island another step toward escaping from some of its crushing debts.
Governor Ricardo Rossello said Monday that his administration struck a deal with major bondholders of the bank, which borrowed for the U.S. territory until the island's fiscal crisis pushed it to default. If approved by other creditors, the financial oversight board and a U.S. court, the bank would be wound down and investors would receive bonds issued by a new entity that would take over its assets, which are worth some $5.3 billion.
Under the agreement, bondholders would exchange their debts at 55 percent, 60 percent or 75 percent of face value, depending on whether they elected to receive higher interest payments or the prospect of a greater recovery through debt with less legal claim to the bank's cash, according to terms disclosed in a bond filing.
The deal comes less than two weeks after Puerto Rico initiated bankruptcy-like proceedings, giving it power to have debts dismissed in U.S. court if creditors don't voluntarily agree to accept less than they're owed. Puerto Rico has already reached a similar agreement with creditors of the government electric company and officials have said they intend to continue negotiating with investors who hold securities sold by other arms of the island's government.
"This agreement is an example that the government is regaining the credibility it had lost over the past few years," Rossello said. "We are satisfied with this agreement."
While imposing losses on bondholders, the agreement will allow them to recoup more of their investment than current trading prices suggest. Government Development Bank bonds due in August, for example, traded Monday for an average of 24.3 cents on the dollar.
Rossello said at a press conference Monday that 45 percent of bondholders have so far consented to the restructuring. Under the federal emergency rescue law that allows for Puerto Rico to legally cut its debts, any voluntary agreement must be approved by a two-thirds vote of bondholders.
