/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCREUR

/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCREUR_Public/020307.mbx T R O U B L E D C O M P A N Y R E P O R T E R E U R O P E Thursday, March 07, 2002, Vol. 3, No. 47 Headlines * F R A N C E * AIR LIB: Strike Disrupts French Regional Carrier Operations * G E R M A N Y * DEUTSCHE TELEKOM: Posts EUR3.5BB Loss in 2001 HEYDE AG: Results Reveal 50% Capital Burn, Calls EGM ISION INTERNET: Maarten Reidel Steps Down as CFO SPINNRAD GMBH: Insolvent Retail Chain Seeks Investor * I R E L A N D * ELAN CORPORATION: Drags Down Irish Stock Exchange * N E T H E R L A N D S * VERSATEL TELECOM: Delays FY Reports Amid Talks With Bondholders * N O R W A Y * KVAERNER ASA: Secures NOK345MM Contract From Norsk Hydro * P O L A N D * ELEKTRIM SA: Proposes Bond Restructuring NETIA HOLDINGS: Agrees on Restructuring Terms With Shareholders NETIA HOLDINGS: Shareholders Delay Meeting to March 12 * S W I T Z E R L A N D * SWISSAIR GROUP: Court Rejects Swissair Brand Claim * U N I T E D K I N G D O M * BALTIMORE TECHNOLOGIES: Appoints Phil Smith as CFO BRITISH AIRWAYS: Shares Jump on Goldman Upgrade CONSIGNIA PLC: Customers Back End to Mail Monopoly CONSIGNIA PLC: Regulator Throws Support for Postal Group INVENSYS PLC: EU Clears ESG Sale to EnerSys INVENSYS PLC: Lord Marshall Buys More Shares MARCONI PLC: Will Cut 1,800 Jobs in U.K., Germany, Italy RAILTRACK GROUP: Geoffrey Howe Leads New Board RAILTRACK GROUP: Has Finances for Legal Battle With Government RAILTRACK GROUP: New Chief Vows to Win in Court ROYAL DOULTON: Wedgwood May Block Doulton's Rights Issue TELEWEST COMMUNICATIONS: Dampens NTL Merger Speculation =========== F R A N C E =========== AIR LIB: Strike Disrupts French Regional Carrier Operations ----------------------------------------------------------- Air Lib, which filed for creditor protection in July last year, disrupted air services Tuesday due to a strike by the French regional carrier's flight stewards, a report obtained from the Dow Jones Newswires say. Pascal Perri, an official at French holding company Holco, which owns Air Lib, said the airline had lost 300,000 euros from ticket cancellations due to the strike. The airline's operations had been forced to reduce services by 10% to 15% on Tuesday to avoid further losses. Unions called the social action Tuesday to protest what they described as a lack of progress in negotiations over Air Lib's restructuring plans, aimed at stemming mounting financial losses. The strike comes a day before Air Lib's scheduled press conference in Paris to announce the launch of a new line of low cost flights starting March 31 within France. Early this year, Air Lib admitted it has secured some 61 million euros in equity capital from a mysterious financier, allowing the French airline to ward off the specter of bankruptcy. ============= G E R M A N Y ============= DEUTSCHE TELEKOM: Posts EUR3.5BB Loss in 2001 --------------------------------------------- Bonn-based telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom AG revealed a loss of 3.5 billion euros ($3 billion) in 2001. Excluding one- time items, the company had a loss of 4.7 billion euros. Refer to DT's website at http://www.telekom.de/for the company's financial report. Group revenue increased to 48.3 billion euros, an 18.1% rise from the previous year. The company also said Tuesday it had cut its debt 4.8% to 62.1 billion euros in the fourth quarter. Chief Executive Officer Ron Sommer has pledged to reduce borrowings to 50 billion euros by the end of 2002. The CEO has said servicing debt costs Deutsche Telekom 4.5 million euros annually. Sommer is under pressure to sell assets and reduce debt after Moody's Investment Service and Standard & Poor's last week said they might lower the company's long-term credit ratings. Investors are skeptical that DT's chief can reach his target after the German cartel office blocked the 5.5 billion-euro cable TV business sale to U.S. media group Liberty Media. The CEO has said he may have to delay the initial public offering of wireless unit T-Mobile International AG, planned for the second or third quarter, until next year. DT will release its final figures on April 23. The company will also publish its dividend proposal for 2001 that day. HEYDE AG: Results Reveal 50% Capital Burn, Calls EGM ---------------------------------------------------- German IT solutions provider Heyde AG -- http://www.heyde.com/-- plans to call an AGM after revealing that shareholder's equity in 2001 have eroded by over 50%. The managing board will publish invitations immediately after the legal agenda will be finalized. The losses were attributed to subsequent write-downs of interest in and loans relating to domestic and international operations. Heyde further considers closing its loss-making systems integration subsidiaries in the U.K., in Brazil and Spain. The company now intends to refocus on its core business within its Supply Chain and Financial Services Divisions. These areas have particular growth potential, where Heyde has track record of proven expertise. In order to reinforce the strategic and operating roll-out of the next restructuring steps, the management consultancy Droege & Company will be involved in the reorganization, acting as temporary management in several areas. In order not to impede the success of this restructuring effort by maintaining the costly Neuer Markt listing, plans are to shift to the Geregelter Markt, the organized market of Deutsche Borse. The company might reapply for a listing on the Neuer Markt after having returned to sustainable and profitable growth. The entire restructuring plan was talked through with Heyde's principal banks, which continue to support the company and are contributing to laying the basis for a successful restructuring by extending the credit line. In the context of this reinforcement of refocusing on its strategically attractive business units, Heyde is open for contacts with potential strategic partners. Initial negotiations are in process already. ISION INTERNET: Maarten Reidel Steps Down as CFO ------------------------------------------------ ISION Internet AG said that its financial chief, Maarten Reidel, is leaving Hamburg's web-hosting company as part of a management reshuffle. According to a report from Dow Jones Newswires, Lars Seidel, who recently joined the board, will take on Reidel's duties. On the supervisory board, John Beaumont is resigning his post as chairman. The other members of the supervisory board have proposed that Energis Chief Executive David Wickham join the supervisory board. Energis PLC is ISION's majority shareholder, with 98%, but in the face of its own financial difficulties, the London-based Internet traffic carrier last month said it planned to sell ISION. ISION said it would either sell or shut down its smaller operations, and plans other measures to cut costs. SPINNRAD GMBH: Insolvent Retail Chain Seeks Investor ---------------------------------------------------- German retail chain Spinnrad GmbH, which sells a range of natural products including cosmetics and detergents, is seeking for an investor after it applied for insolvency proceedings last Friday. Spinnrad, which has debts of 30 million euros, will be forced to close its 211 branches if an investor is not found. According to a Financial Times Deutschland report, drugstore chain Muller has shown interest in an alliance with Spinnrad, although a takeover is not planned. It is also seen as possible that Spinnrad may be assisted by a regional government guarantee of around 5 million euros. Spinnrad was still listed among the EU's 500 most rapidly growing businesses in 1999. The company's problems began in November 2000 with a failed publicity move, problems with its range and the end of the 'green' boom. ============= I R E L A N D ============= ELAN CORPORATION: Drags Down Irish Stock Exchange ------------------------------------------------- Dublin-based pharmaceutical company Elan Corporation was the worst performing company on the Irish market in January and February, largely responsible for the ISEQ index falling 13%. Elan fell 69% after concerns about its accounts and its decision to halt tests as more patients in its clinical trials of an Alzheimer's treatment had taken ill. Early this week, shares in Elan were down 1.3% to 16.25 euros in Dublin. Elan's top executives and auditor KPMG LLP are currently facing a number of class action suits in the U.S. for allegedly engaging in improper accounting and issuing false and misleading statements on its revenues. Elan denies the underlying allegations. The company earlier lost some $9 billion in value as it released a grim 2002 profit warning and accounting concerns. ===================== N E T H E R L A N D S ===================== VERSATEL TELECOM: Delays FY Reports Amid Talks With Bondholders --------------------------------------------------------------- Versatel Telecom International NV will delay publication of its annual results by about two weeks due to ongoing talks with its bondholders, reports the AFX News. The Amsterdam-based data communications network company originally scheduled to publish its financial results yesterday. Versatel is negotiating with a bondholder committee representing a "substantial" amount of the face value of the company's high- yield and convertible notes. The discussions involve the company's proposed bond exchange offer, announced last October. The report adds that the company currently has negative shareholder equity, making the company trading on the Euronext Amsterdam on penalty watch. Versatel is not threatened by a delisting. However, the bourse will monitor the company's equity position on which to base a warning to declare to investors. Versatel operates in Netherlands, Belgium and Germany and has over 72,000 business customers with a workforce of 1,565. =========== N O R W A Y =========== KVAERNER ASA: Secures NOK345MM Contract From Norsk Hydro -------------------------------------------------------- Kvaerner, the Anglo-Norwegian engineering, construction and shipbuilding group that almost went bust last year, said Tuesday that energy company Norsk Hydro has awarded them with a contract worth 345 million Norwegian krone ($39 million) to upgrade gas compression capacity on the Oseberg C platform in the Norwegian North Sea. This assignment covers engineering, procurement and construction of a 650-tonne compressor module with associated hook-up work. It also embraces compressor testing on land and assistance to Hydro during offshore hook-up and commissioning. Engineering work will immediately start at Kvaerner's Lysaker premises outside Oslo. Fabrication will commence this August at the Rosenberg Verft yard in Stavanger. Plans call for the module to be transported to the field in May 2003, with offshore completion scheduled for July of the same year. The project will employ roughly 60 people at the design stage, and about 200 during the construction phase in Stavanger. Kvaerner staved off bankruptcy in November by agreeing to merge its Oil & Gas business with rival Aker Maritime. Following the restructuring of debt, the injection of new equity into the company, and the forthcoming integration with Aker Maritime, the group now has a sound financial basis and a good industrial platform for further development. Earlier, Kvaerner said that pre-tax result after exceptional items for the year ending December 31 was a loss of NOK5 billion ($563 million). For further information, contact Geir Arne Drangeid, Senior Vice President for Corporate Communication, at telephone +47 67 51 30 36 or +47 91 31 04 58. =========== P O L A N D =========== ELEKTRIM SA: Proposes Bond Restructuring ---------------------------------------- Warszawa-based telecommunications and power conglomerate Elektrim S.A. announces that in a March 5 letter sent to Bingham Dana LLP based in London, lawyers representing the interests of a significant number of bondholders, the Company's management board presented new proposals regarding the terms of the debt repayment relating to the issued bonds, under the proposed composition with creditors. The proposals include two variants, i.e.: Variant 1 Variant 2 Discount Payable 25% 15% within 30 days of creditor approval 5% 5% By 31 December 2003 40% 35% By 31 December 2004 30% 12% By 31 December 2005 11% By 31 December 2006 11% By 31 December 2007 11% The success of the proposals is subject to the disposition of certain assets of the Company and/or raising external funding and the approval of the proposed composition by the bondholders' meeting, which is set on March 15. Furthermore, Elektrim S.A. announces that the Judge Commissioner handling Elektrim's composition proceeding has ordered an audit of the Company's assets. Elektrim has been suffering serious liquidity problems since 1999, when the then CEO Barbara Lundberg launched an ambitious and high leveraged round of telecom and cable TV acquisitions. In January, as reported in the Troubled Company Reporter Europe, a group of bondholders filed a petition in a Warsaw court calling for Elektrim's bankruptcy after a December 17 payment default on the 480 million euros in bonds. The court dismissed the petition and ordered Elektrim to begin composition, or debt restructuring proceedings to repay its bondholders. Elektrim filed its own petition with the Court, proposing a 40% reduction of its debt and a three-year grace period for repaying the remainder. In the composition proceeding, 124 creditors assert claims totaling PLN2.33 billion ($560 million). NETIA HOLDINGS: Agrees on Restructuring Terms With Shareholders --------------------------------------------------------------- Netia Holdings S.A., Poland's largest alternative provider of fixed-line telecommunications services, said Tuesday that it has reached an agreement with an Ad Hoc Committee of its Noteholders, certain financial creditors, and Telia AB and the Warburg Pincus entities that own its shares to implement a restructuring plan designed to strengthen Netia's capital structure. Subject to the consent of 95% of Noteholders and the completion of definitive legal documentation by all parties, the restructuring will involve the issuance of new shares and debt by Netia in exchange for the outstanding Notes held by its Noteholders and the claims of the other financial creditors. Pursuant to the proposed restructuring, the Noteholders and certain financial creditors will receive new shares in the Company representing 91% of the Company's post-restructuring share capital. Those creditors will also receive in aggregate 50 million euros of new Senior Secured Notes issued by a Dutch finance subsidiary of the Company and guaranteed by the Company and its significant subsidiaries. The Company's existing shareholders will be issued two and three year freely transferable and assignable warrants, with each tranche covering 7.5%, together totaling 15%, of the post- restructuring share capital of the Company (after the provision of 5% of the issued ordinary share capital to the Company for a management option plan as described below). The warrants will be listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The strike price applicable to warrants in each tranche will correspond with the volume weighted average share price for the 30 trading days beginning 31 days following the successful closing of the restructuring. Netia will seek to pay its trade creditors in full as their claims become due and payable. Following these repayments, it is anticipated that the only remaining material funded indebtedness of the Company will be the new Senior Secured Notes. The Company will also establish a key employee incentive plan and a stock option plan covering up to 5% of the post-restructuring share capital of the Company before the issuance of the warrants. The restructuring will be effected by means of an exchange offer within the court-based plans of arrangement in both the Netherlands and Poland. According to Kjell-Ove Blom, Netia's acting CEO and Chief Operating Officer, the restructuring will allow the company to establish a solid capital structure and foundation. Netia found itself in financial trouble in December when it defaulted on the 1999 Senior Dollar Notes and 1999 Senior Euro Notes totaling more than $13.3 million. The Warsaw-based company again failed to issue payment of $850 million in bonds after a 30-day grace period ended in mid January. Netia filed a court motion in February to start debt restructuring proceedings after it released a far worse than expected consolidated net loss of 1.15 billion zlotys ($274 million) and net debt of 2.86 billion zlotys ($690.59 million). NETIA HOLDINGS: Shareholders Delay Meeting to March 12 ------------------------------------------------------ Netia Holdings S.A. said that its Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders held on February 19, and previously adjourned until March 5, approved a one-week adjournment of the meeting until March 12 at 12:00 p.m. CET. A Restructuring Agreement to implement a restructuring plan designed to strengthen Netia's capital structure was on Tuesday signed by Netia, Telia and the Warburg Pincus entities. The adjournment was adopted in order to allow the Ad Hoc Committee of Noteholders and other Noteholders to sign the Restructuring Agreement. Netia also said that it has convened another Extraordinary General Meeting of its Shareholders on March 27 to increase conditionally the Company's share capital by up to PLN141.38 million ($34 million) through the issuance of ordinary bearer series "J" shares, with an aim to facilitate the issuance of warrants to existing shareholders and to propose a stock option plan for Netia's key employees. These proposed resolutions are resulting from the agreed terms of the restructuring, as announced previously and are subject to the approval of the Supervisory Board. Prior to the Shareholders' Meeting on March 27, Netia's Management Board will announce the final text of the proposed resolutions and will also present a recommendation of the Supervisory Board on these issues. Netia is the leading alternative fixed-line telecommunications provider in Poland. It provides a broad range of telecommunications services including voice, data and Internet- access and commercial network services. The company's American Depositary Shares are listed on the Nasdaq National Market, while its ordinary shares are listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Netia owns, operates and continues to build a state-of-the-art fiber-optic network that, as of December 31, had connected 343,802 active subscriber lines, including 97,994 business lines. The company currently provides voice telephone services in 24 territories throughout Poland, including in six of Poland's ten largest cities. ===================== S W I T Z E R L A N D ===================== SWISSAIR GROUP: Court Rejects Swissair Brand Claim -------------------------------------------------- A commercial court in Zurich has rejected Swissair Group AG's application for an injuction against regional carrier Crossair for its planned name change to "Swiss" and the use of company name "Swiss Air Lines Ltd." According to a Dow Jones Newswires report, the trade court said that Crossair's use of the brand from March 31 would not damage the interests of collapsed the Swissair Group. Swissair, which applied for creditor's protection in October, contested that Crossair's choice of name for Switzerland's new national carrier violates its rights to the Swissair brand, which is valued at 660 million Swiss francs. Swissair Group estate administrator Karl Wuthrich of Wenger Plattner, who oversees the financial activities of the company, supported Swissair's view. =========================== U N I T E D K I N G D O M =========================== BALTIMORE TECHNOLOGIES: Appoints Phil Smith as CFO -------------------------------------------------- Baltimore Technologies PLC -- http://www.baltimore.com/-- has named Phil Smith as its new chief financial officer, reports AFX News. Smith has been Baltimore's interim CFO since October last year. The company, which employs over a thousand, provides information security solutions that enable businesses to conduct secure communications and transactions over computer networks and the Internet. Baltimore Technologies, weighed by widened losses, has sold off its Content Technologies business in January raising GBP20.5 million. It has announced plans to divest of other non-core areas and excess facilities, including the recent disposal of a surplus property in the UK, for one million pounds. The company is now focusing on its core business and continues to implement a restructuring and cost reduction program. BRITISH AIRWAYS: Shares Jump on Goldman Upgrade ----------------------------------------------- British Airways PLC's shares were 0-3/4 pence firmer in early blue chip trade on Tuesday as US broker Goldman Sachs hiked its stance for the cash-strapped airline group to market outperformer from market performer, increasing its price target to 280 pence from 200. According to a report from the AFX News, Goldman is also increasing its forecasts for BA, with its 2002 pretax loss estimate reduced to 329 million pounds from loss 594 million previously, and its 2003 pretax loss estimate reduced to 210 million pounds from loss 312 million previously. The broker said the catalysts for these upgrades at the pretax level are BA's restructuring initiative announced in February. The airline's Future Size and Shape plan includes a cut of 5,800 jobs, or 12% of its workforce, and costs by 650 million pounds within two years. BA was badly hit by the September 11 catastrophe and the rise of low cost airlines such as easyJet and Ryanair. The airline's debt in February stood at around 6.5 billion pounds ($9.28 billion), almost three times its market value. CONSIGNIA PLC: Customers Back End to Mail Monopoly -------------------------------------------------- Consignia's customers have decided to back the postal regulator's plans to end the company's monopoly, the Financial Times reported Tuesday. The Mail Users' Association, representing business customers, said there is a bigger risk to service levels if Consignia is allowed to continue without competition. "Without competition, there is a real danger that Consignia will continue to decline and that the universal postal service will be at risk," association chairman John Ivers said. The decision to join the political battle over Consignia's monopoly follows signs that postal regulator Postcomm was yielding to government pressure to dilute its plans to encourage competition. On Monday, Postcomm chairman Graham Corbett said he would consider amending the original plans for competition if Consignia produced good reasons. Consignia believes its finances have deteriorated significantly, losing up to 1.5 million pounds a day. It is preparing to submit fresh evidence. CONSIGNIA PLC: Regulator Throws Support for Postal Group -------------------------------------------------------- Consignia will be protected against the full brunt of competition as the postal regulator indicated it is prepared to back down from plans to end the state-owned postal group's monopoly amid fears that it will be unable to maintain delivery services if the market is opened up, reports This Is London. Postcomm said in February it intends to open up 30% of Consignia's business to competition from April this year to March 2004, open up a further 30% of the market from April 2004 to March 2006 by including bulk mail between 500 and 1,000 items, and abolish all restrictions. Consignia, which is obliged under law to provide a universal service, believes it will not be able to maintain delivery services in the country for the same price if other firms are allowed to take over its profitable operations. Postcomm's recent move comes as Consignia's losses have grown from 1 million pounds to 1.5 million pounds a day. There are fears that the deficit will soar if PostComm proceeds with its plan to allow competitors to deliver bulk mail from April. Consignia, which is facing the possibility of strikes over pay, is desperately seeking to increase the efficiency of its businesses. The company is struggling to slash 1.2 billion pounds ($1.7 billion) from its 8-billion-pound cost base in order to restore profitability and become more competitive. INVENSYS PLC: EU Clears ESG Sale to EnerSys ------------------------------------------- The European Union Commission has approved the sale of Invensys' battery technology unit Energy Storage Group (ESG) to EnerSys Holdings Inc. for 561 million euros ($488.5 million). EnerSys is a leading provider of industrial batteries in the U.S. The company is controlled by Morgan Stanley Capital Partners. The ESG disposal is part of Invensys' plans to sell around $1 billion in assets to slash its 5.2 billion euros ($4.5 billion) debt and focus on core businesses after suffering three profit warnings in 2001. Invensys plc is located at Carlisle Place in London. For more information, contact the company at telephone +44 207 834 3848 or through fax +44 207 834 3879. INVENSYS PLC: Lord Marshall Buys More Shares -------------------------------------------- Invensys said Tuesday that its Director, Lord Marshall, has acquired 204 shares in London's largest engineering group, under the company's dividend reinvestment plan. Percentage of issued class 0.0000058 Class of security Ordinary shares of 25p each Price per share 111.86p Following this notification, Lord Marshall holds a total of 23,323 shares in Invensys. Invensys has been cutting jobs and selling assets to cut its 3 billion pounds of debt, 89% of its market value, on speculation it may breach loan agreements after posting a first-half loss. Outstanding loans also include a $1.25 billion credit line arranged two years ago by HSBC Holdings Plc and UBS Warburg that comes due in 2005. For inquiries, contact Victoria Scarth, Senior Vice President for Corporate Marketing & Communications, at telephone 020 7821 3712. MARCONI PLC: Will Cut 1,800 Jobs in U.K., Germany, Italy -------------------------------------------------------- Cash-strapped Marconi Plc will make 1,800 workers in Germany, the U.K. and Italy redundant to save money after customers slashed spending on network equipment a year ago, Bloomberg reports. The London-based telecom equipment company plans to cut about 4% of its 7,200 workforce in Genoa, Marcianise and Rome. Marconi spokesman Joe Kelly said that the layoffs would occur at units that make gear to transmit traffic along phone networks, not in the division that makes telecommunications equipment for the army. The company will also slash 28% of its 3,000 jobs in Germany, at its Offenburg, Backnang and Radeberg factories. In the U.K., the cuts represent about 6% of the workforce of about 10,000. The company, which had about 41,000 employees at the end of 2001, said in January it would cut 4,000 jobs this year. Marconi Plc's value plummet to less than half a billion pounds from a peak above 35 billion as it was hit by the telecoms network capacity glut. It has raised 1.5 billion pounds from selling non-phone equipment assets in the past few months. RAILTRACK GROUP: Geoffrey Howe Leads New Board ---------------------------------------------- The Railtrack Group's fight to win back value for the company's shareholders will be led by Geoffrey Howe, who is appointed Chairman of the rail network company effective March 7, 2002. Howe is former managing partner of Clifford Chance. He brings a wealth of legal and business expertise that will be invaluable to the Group as it pursues its claim for compensation following the government's decision to put Railtrack PLC into Administration in October last year. David Harding, formerly Finance Director, was appointed Chief Executive effective March 7. Harding, who joined Railtrack last April, has wide experience in industrial and engineering companies, including a period as Group Finance Director at T&N PLC, where he had extensive experience of litigation in the US. Simon Osborne will join the Board as Legal Director. Osborne is Railtrack Group Secretary and General Counsel. John Robinson is stepping down as Chairman. Steve Marshall, who resigned on October 7, is also stepping down as Chief Executive. Both will remain as Non-Executive Directors and in that capacity they will continue to fight actively to secure value for shareholders. A request has been made to the Treasury Solicitor for the disclosure of all key documents relating to the decision to put Railtrack into Administration. If this request is not met then it is intended that an application for pre action disclosure will be made to the Court. The Railtrack Group's Non Executive Directors are Jonathan Bloomer, Vic Cocker, David Jones, Steve Marshall, John Robinson and Gordon Sage. For more information, please contact Sue Clark at telephone 07850 285471/020 7544 8436. RAILTRACK GROUP: Has Finances for Legal Battle With Government -------------------------------------------------------------- Railtrack Group Plc has sufficient resources to mount a long legal battle with the British government, Reuters reports. Newly appointed Finance Director David Harding said that Britain's railway operator could access interest and divest a property portfolio worth more than 50 million pounds to fund the case. Railtrack is seeking 380 pence per share in compensation. It would begin court action soon in an attempt to have the government open up confidential documents on the events leading up to its administration in October last year. "We expect that if we are unable to achieve fair compensation by any other route we will purse the litigation for as long as we need," new Railtrack chairman Geoffrey Howe said. RAILTRACK GROUP: New Chief Vows to Win in Court ----------------------------------------------- Railtrack's new chairman, corporate lawyer Geoffrey Howe, aims to get a solution to the company's legal battle for compensation against the British government, reports the Independent News. "Litigation is not an end but a means to an end," said Mr Howe, adding that 360p a share in compensation would be a good place to start. Geoffrey Howe, a former managing partner of the City law firm Clifford Chance, said the nearest parallel he could think of was the BCCI case, which after 10 years resulted in the liquidators of the failed bank suing the Bank of England. ROYAL DOULTON: Wedgwood May Block Doulton's Rights Issue -------------------------------------------------------- Irish ceramics and giftware group Waterford Wedgwood may be gearing up to try to block an 18.9 million pounds ($26.8 million) emergency rights issue by Royal Doulton after increasing its stake in the Stoke-on-Trent-based ceramics group to more than 20.6%. Waterford said earlier this week that it bought another 4.7 million Royal Doulton shares at 11p sterling each and this brings its stake from 14.9% to 20.6%. Shareholders are expected to approve a fully sub-underwritten 18.9-million-pound three-for-one rights issue to finance the restructuring on Friday. Royal Doulton, which carries the brands Minton and Royal Albert, will need 75% approval from its shareholders for the rights issue to proceed. According to a market source, Waterford obviously do not want to have to pay up in the rights issue, so they seem to be trying to block it instead. Royal Doulton said that if the rights issue fails, it will be forced to renegotiate its banking facilities and that the group was unlikely to be viable. The group's banks, led by HSBC, have agreed that if the rights issue succeeds, they will provide new debt facilities of 30 million pounds payable in 2005. The three-for-one rights issue is fully underwritten by Cazenove and sub-underwritten by a group of institutions, including some of Royal Doulton's existing shareholders. In 2001, Royal Doulton announced it would miss its deadline for recovery set for the end of 2002. Analysts believe that break- even is unlikely before the end of 2003. Royal Doulton was in February on its last phase of the restructuring that includes a reduction of staff members by 1,000, closure of factory in Staffordshire and 100 underperforming retail outlets worldwide, and the transfer of production to Indonesia. TELEWEST COMMUNICATIONS: Dampens NTL Merger Speculation ------------------------------------------------------- London cable company Telewest sought on Tuesday to dampen speculation about a merger with rival NTL. Telewest Chief Executive Adam Singer said a long-anticipated merger between the two companies probably made no sense at the moment because of their high debt levels. NTL, with equity worth less than $50 million, is currently examining restructuring options for its $17 billion in debt. Telewest has dropped on concerns that it might follow suit to refinance its own 5.1 billion pound ($7.25 billion) debt mountain. In 2001, Telewest reported a pre-tax loss of 1.94 billion pounds ($2.7 billion), compared with a loss of 701 million pounds a year earlier. *********** S U B S C R I P T I O N I N F O R M A T I O N Troubled Company Reporter -- Europe is a daily newsletter co- published by Bankruptcy Creditors' Service, Inc., Trenton, NJ USA, and Beard Group, Inc., Washington, DC USA. Kimberly MacAdam, Salve M. Mordeno and Maria Lourdes Reyes, Editors. Copyright 2002. All rights reserved. ISSN 1529-2754. This material is copyrighted and any commercial use, resale or publication in any form (including e-mail forwarding, electronic re-mailing and photocopying) is strictly prohibited without prior written permission of the publishers. Information contained herein is obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but is not guaranteed. The TCR Europe subscription rate is $575 per half-year, delivered via e-mail. Additional e-mail subscriptions for members of the same firm for the term of the initial subscription or balance thereof are $25 each. For subscription information, contact Christopher Beard at 240/629-3300. * * * End of Transmission * * *