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Noble Group paves way for debt deal with Goldilocks agreement: Update

Bloomberg Published on Wed, Jun 20, 2018 / 9:09 AM GMT+8

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(June 20): Embattled commodity trader Noble Group reached a deal with dissident shareholder Goldilocks Investment Co. over its planned US$3.5 billion ($4.7 billion) debt restructuring, agreeing to boost the holding in the new company that stock investors stand to get. The shares surged.

Existing shareholders will now receive 20% of the revised company, up from 15%, according to an exchange statement on Wednesday. In addition, the two parties will drop all claims against one another, with Noble Group paying Goldilocks as much as US$5 million to its cover legal costs.

The deal marks a breakthrough after months of increasingly bitter public sparring between Noble Group and Goldilocks, and it paves the way for a restructuring that’ll see control handed to senior creditors. Goldilocks has given its irrevocable support to the revised agreement, which already has the backing of founder Richard Elman. Noble and Goldilocks will form a partnership to explore opportunities in the Middle East, according to the statement.