Banks finalize plan for rescheduling debt of ailing Klonatex
A solution to the liquidity problems faced by the Lanaras textile group (Klonatex) is expected to be announced this week, centered on the Naoussa Spinning Mills subsidiary which has 580 employees. According to sources, a group of five creditor banks led by the National Bank of Greece have reached their final proposal for the refinancing of the group’s current financial obligations and the provision of working capital. During recent negotiations with the group, the banks proposed a 30-million-euro loan, of which 20 million euros would be used to refinance current obligations and the rest be used according to management’s judgment. But Thomas Lanaras, the group’s major shareholder, opposed the demand that he also participate in the financing scheme with an amount equal to the loan. Another point of disagreement, which also seems to have been settled by the new proposals, concerned the banks’ desire to oversee the allocation of the loan they would approve. Meanwhile, in a letter to the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE), Naoussa Spinning Mills said the banks had failed to reply to its requests, as they were supposed to, by August 12, and pledged to provide immediate notification of its plans upon receiving an answer.
