IHeartMedia Inc. unit iHeartCommunications Inc. on March 4 entered into a forbearance agreement with certain lenders, delaying any bankruptcy filing through at least March 7, according to a Form 8-K filing.
The lenders agreed to temporarily forbear from accelerating the obligations under a credit agreement due to iHeartCommunications' failure to make an interest payment with respect to its 14.00% senior notes due 2021 that was originally due on Feb. 1. The forbearance will terminate immediately and automatically upon the earliest to occur of March 7 at 11:59 p.m. CT and an event of default under the credit agreement other than those that resulted in the entry into the forbearance agreement.
IHeartCommunications agreed to not make payments on account of any debt or obligations under the indentures governing iHeartCommunications' legacy notes and iHeartCommunications' 14.00% senior notes due 2021 during the forbearance period.
Earlier, Bloomberg News reported that Liberty Media Corp. Chairman John Malone acquired nearly $400 million of iHeartMedia's debt from GSO Capital Partners, credit unit of Blackstone Group LP, setting the stage for Malone to take a leading role in negotiations regarding iHeart's capital restructuring as GSO exited the talks.
A report last month indicated that Liberty Media was looking to buy a 40% stake in iHeartMedia for $1.16 billion in cash. Liberty Media also controls Sirius XM Holdings Inc.
