TalkTalk has announced that it has reached a binding agreement on the terms of its refinancing deal.
Last month, Sir Charles Dunstone, the founder of TalkTalk, agreed a £400 million refinancing deal with the company’s lenders to avert the threat of a debt default.
TalkTalk’s shareholders - who include Dunstone, Ares Management and Toscafund - agreed to inject £65 million of interim funding into the company last month.
Now that all parties have entered into binding lock-up arrangements, a further capital injection of £170 million was made last weekend, with assets currently held separately such as its Virtual1 subsidiary and Ovo and Shell customer bases also being contributed to the group. In total, the refinancing is worth more than £400 million.
In return, TalkTalk's bank lenders and bondholders, which collectively hold approximately 70 per cent of the company’s secured debt, have agreed to extend two debt maturities, which were due to mature in November and February, to September 2027.
TalkTalk said that the transaction will leave it well-funded to deliver the respective strategic plans of PlatformX Communications and TalkTalk, continuing to capitalise on its strong positions in the market.
The company said that it will now move to the implementation phase of the transaction, which is expected to close in the next few months.