Punch bondholders seek debt for equity swap

Punch Taverns' bondholders are seeking to halt the ailing firm from selling pubs in its estate and instead arrange a debt for equity swap.

The tenanted pub firm announced last week plans to slice off its managed pub business into a separate company, the Financial Times reports. The bondholders plan to ask Deutsche Bank, the trustee of the securitisations, to pause the sale of the firm's pubs, which is injecting cash into the two funding vehicles to prevent them from defaulting. The two vehicles, which back the tenanted businesses, issue the bonds, with the lowest-ranking notes valued at around 30% of their face value. Ian Dyson, Punch chief executive, wants to retain of around 5,000 tenanted pubs, in the view there is...