Exhibit 99.1
Telewest Communications plc
Preliminary Restructuring Agreement
30 September 2002
Telewest Communications plc ("Telewest" or the "Company") announces that it has
reached an agreement relating to a restructuring with an ad hoc committee of
bondholders (the "Bondholder Committee").
The principal terms of the agreement are as follows:
o all outstanding notes and debentures issued by Telewest and Telewest
Finance (Jersey) Limited (the "Notes"), representing approximately
(pound)3.5 billion of indebtedness, and certain other unsecured
obligations of Telewest will be cancelled and exchanged for ordinary
shares representing 97 per cent. of the issued ordinary share capital of
the Company immediately following the restructuring;
o the current ordinary shareholders will receive the remaining 3 per cent.
of Telewest's issued ordinary share capital; and
o the senior secured credit facility, all vendor financing, trade debt and
other obligations of Telewest Communications Networks Limited and its
subsidiaries will be unimpaired.
This preliminary agreement is non-binding and is subject to various conditions,
including the reaching of an agreement between Telewest, the Bondholder
Committee and Telewest's senior lenders with respect to the detailed terms of
the restructuring and the process for its implementation.
Telewest now intends to seek support for this agreement from its other
stakeholders. Further announcements relating to the restructuring process will
be made in due course.
In view of this agreement, the Board has determined, after consultation with
certain of its stakeholders, that it will defer payment of interest under
certain of the Notes and the settlement of certain Telewest currency unwind
contracts pending the completion of the Company's restructuring negotiations.
Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxx, managing director said:
"Today's announcement represents an important first step towards completing a
financial restructuring that carefully balances the interests of all
stakeholders. I am confident we will be able to conclude a final agreement that
will put the Company on a sound financial footing, allowing us to build on our
operational strength and extend our leadership in the broadband market. All
customers and suppliers should be reassured that Telewest will continue to meet
its operational commitments."
ENQUIRIES:
TELEWEST
Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxx, managing director 020 7299 5000
Xxxx Xxxxxxx, media 020 7299 5888
Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxxx, investor relations 020 7299 5479
BRUNSWICK
Xxxx Xxxxxxxx/Xxxxx Xxxxxxx 020 7404 5959
XXXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXX XXXXXX
Xxxxx Xxxxxxxxxxx/Xxxxxxx Xxxxx 020 7986 4000
XXXXXXXX & CO
Xxx Xxxxx/Xxxxxxx Xxxxxx 020 7484 1150
This announcement has been approved solely for the purposes of Section 21 of the
Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 by Salomon Brothers International
Limited, trading as Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxxx Xxxxx Xxxxxx ("Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxxx Xxxxx
Xxxxxx") of Citigroup Centre, 00 Xxxxxx Xxxxxx, Xxxxxx Xxxxx, Xxxxxx X00 0XX.
Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxxx Xxxxx Xxxxxx is acting for Telewest and no one else in
connection with the transaction and will not be responsible to any other person
for providing the protections afforded to customers clients of Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxxx
Xxxxx Xxxxxx or for providing advice in relation to the transaction.
NOTE TO EDITORS:
Telewest Communications, the broadband communications and media group, currently
passes 4.9 million homes and provides multi-channel television, telephone and
internet services to around 1.8 million UK households, and voice and data
telecommunications services to around 74, 300 business customers. Its content
division, Flextech, is the biggest provider of basic channels to the UK pay-TV
market and is the BBC's partner in UKTV, which has a portfolio of pay-TV
channels based on the corporation's programming, including UK Gold.
