Doesn't have a heap of meat in the article but this is the source article from the Austr4lian.
Centro's D-Day: deadline for debt Maurice Dunlevy | May 30, 2008
CENTRO will clear its latest debt deadline hurdle today, but German regional bank WestLB is understood to remain a sticking point.
Owed $186 million as part of an eight-bank Australian lending syndicate with total exposure of $2.3 billion to the troubled shopping centre owner and manager, WestLB is understood to have reluctantly agreed to the latest extension.
WestLB could not be contacted yesterday, but banking circles are awash with speculation that the "local" lender remains unconvinced about Centro's long-term survival.
That was a view shared by the Commonwealth Bank earlier this month until JPMorgan Australia chair Rod Eddington convinced the CBA otherwise.
Only eleventh-hour intervention by Sir Rod, whose bank is owned more than $2 billion, convinced the CBA to back a seven-month debt extension.
The Australian lending group and Centro's US private placement noteholders -- owed an additional $450 million -- reached an in-principle agreement on May 8 to extend the repayment of about $2.75 billion of debt until December 15.
The May 8 agreement came after Centro Properties Group and its subsidiaries provided security through a mix of fixed and floating charges, and some US real estate mortgages to Australian and US lenders and US placement noteholders.
But the agreement was conditional on a new May 30 deadline requiring Centro to finalise, among other things, the consent process for refinancing and portfolio and assets sales.
Failure to meet today's deadline would have meant almost certain administration.
Centro's lenders have set another deadline for September 30, when Australian and US lenders must be satisfied about Centro's strategic plan progress.
Analysts believe that two class actions against Centro, the latest launched by high-profile plaintiff lawyers Slater & Gordon a week ago, will not have any immediate effect on the willingness of lenders to keep Centro afloat.
The two claims could involve as much as $700 million, but the final figure is still being calculated.
Centro's head stock closed up 3c to 38c, while its retail trust was up 6c to close at 41.5c.
CNP Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
