Blue Label Telecoms has notified shareholders that the finalisation of Cell C’s recapitalisation has been delayed.
“Certain of the binding long form agreements are not yet in final execution form and are in the process of finalisation,” Blue Label said.
“Although the final stages of the recapitalisation process are progressing well, certain delays have resulted in the transaction being expected to close towards the end of August 2022.”
Blue Label said at the beginning of last month that the transaction should be concluded in “late July”.
This came after Cell C’s secured lenders voted in favour of an 80% haircut on their debt — a compromise cash-out offer of 20c for every R1.
Cell C has been unable to pay its debts and must restructure R7.3 billion to survive.
Of this, $184,002,000 (R2.95 billion) was First Priority Senior Secured Notes that Cell C issued and were publicly listed.
These noteholders had to vote whether to accept the haircut.
At least 75% of votes controlled by debtors with first-priority secured notes must approve the deal to be binding on all noteholders.
The noteholder meeting was held on 5 July after being delayed due to a lack of quorum on 20 June, and debtors voted in favour of the compromise.
The final steps to concluding the recapitalisation involve signing conditions precedent and long-form agreements.
Blue Label previously said these were expected to be concluded in a matter of weeks.