Gherkin tower owner IVG in 2.15 bln eur debt-for-equity swap

* Roughly 45 pct of debt to be swapped for equity * SynLoan I creditors to own roughly 77 pct of company* Convertible bond owners to receive around 19 pct* Hybrid bond owners, existing investors to hold 3.5 pct* IVG strategic review leads to 350 mln euros in writedownsFRANKFURT, Aug 10 (Reuters) - German property group IVG reached a preliminary agreement with creditors over a plan that would virtually wipe out existing shareholders and swap 2.15 billion euros ($2.87 billion) in debt for equity, the company said on Saturday.If shareholders and creditors vote in favour of the plan, the co-owner of the London Gherkin tower will have only another 2.45 billion euros in debt on its books and will not have to file for protection from creditors.According to the plan outlined in a company statement, IVG will first reduce its capital, leaving just 1 share for every 200 existing shares. This means current shareholders will own only 0.5 percent of the company.In the next step, creditors of a 2007 syndicated loan amounting to 1.35 billion euros and maturing at the end of September next year, called "SynLoan I", will relinquish their claims in exchange for shares equating to around 77 percent of the company's stock.They will also offer 140 million euros in bridge financing to IVG to cover additional funding needs until the restructuring deal closes.Owners of a 400-million-euro convertible bond will receive about 19 percent of the company and waive their right to a put option that, if exercised, would have forced IVG to redeem the full amount of the bond by the end of March.Owners of a separate 400-million-euro hybrid bond would also waive their financial claims.Finally, IVG will raise cash by issuing an undisclosed amount of new shares.Subscription rights will be offered to the hybrid bond owners and existing shareholders as compensation for their losses. The two groups would end up controlling an additional 3 percent of the company after the rights issue.As part of the deal, state-owned landesbank LBBW has agreed not to ask for the 100 million euros in debt maturing at the end of this year.The real estate company additionally warned that a strategic review of all businesses showed it would need to book around 350 million euros in non-cash writedowns when it publishes half-year results on Aug. 26.

This article is taken from Reuters.com