Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank has completed the region’s biggest ever debt restructure thanks to a revolving committed trade finance facility (RCTFF) and different creditor classes sitting on an enlarged steering committee.
Through these innovative techniques, what was once the country’s largest bank cut its debt by $12.4 billion with minimal government assistance (a rarity for the region) and through a structure that incorporates the importance of trade finance to the fragile, oil export-driven economy.
The restructuring plan, which received court approval on August 31, gives creditors the choice to opt into one of three senior and two junior packages. Under these, $16.7 billion of debt was cancelled and replaced with $945 million in cash distributions, $8.7 billion of debt securities, equity totalling 44.2 billion common shares, and crucially, the $698 million RCTFF that comprised the third senior package.
Trade finance
“[The...