Tele Columbus - comment
The devil could of course be in the detail behind today's statement. But, the additional €70m - €80m commitment signalled today points to shareholders believing that a deal with creditors is doable. If nothing else, it signals to creditors outside the restricted groups that progress on debt rescheduling is being made, as shareholders are buying the option to succeed in negotiations for a healthy 15% of the required investment.
As regards the devil, this additional commitment may already have been made internally when in July the company announced a €15m loan to plug a funding gap through the end of the year. So this may not be much of a signal after all. Also, the lender is referred to as an Affiliate of the shareholders (just Morgan Stanley?). Germany has strict equitable subordination clauses and it should be too early to claim any restricting exemption, but whatever an “affiliate” really is not specified in the context remains open in the release.