Thomas Cook Group has filed for Chapter 15 court protection in the US, the next step in its rescue deal plans.
The filing protects Thomas Cook from legal action from US creditors while it goes through a reorganisation.
It also triggers the payout of default insurance for bondholders who may block the deal.
Thomas Cook needs to secure support from 75% of its bondholders for the rescue deal to be approved, but, according to reports first circulated in the FT, some hedge funds are set to vote against the recapitalisation, which would see existing shareholders’ interests significantly diluted.
Disgruntled bondholders are pushing for the deal to be restructured to allow credit default swaps (CDS) on their loans, which act as an insurance that pays out if the bonds become worthless.
Thomas Cook has postponed this week’s scheduled creditors’ vote on its planned takeover by Fosun until September 27 to give it more time to secure a deal.
