James Cable Partners LP said it has amended its senior credit-facility
agreement, allowing the company to pay interest due on existing high-yield debt
and to fund its upgrade plans.
According to a press release, James Cable said it has obtained a $30 million
credit facility from affiliates of Golden Tree Asset Management to replace an
earlier 1997 credit agreement with a group of banks including Canadian Imperial
Bank of Commerce.
James Cable has already drawn down $18 million on the new credit facility to
pay interest due Feb. 15 on its $100 million 10.75 percent series-B senior
notes. The operator said it may use the remaining $12 million to continue with
its rebuild and upgrade program and to fund acquisitions.
James Cable had been under the gun to pay off the bond-interest debt. Late
last year, it hired Communications Equity Associates LLC to find a buyer for its
systems, but it has been unable to reach a deal.
James Cable has about 70,000 subscribers in Oklahoma, Texas, Georgia,
Louisiana, Colorado, Wyoming, Tennessee, Alabama and Florida.
UBS Warburg LLC analyst Aryeh Bourkoff said the deal could make James Cable
more attractive to potential suitors in that it removes the onus of the overdue
interest debt, allows it to fully fund the plant upgrade to 450-megahertz
two-way and should bring the company to free-cash-flow positive.
'The financing plan only works to improve the relative attractiveness of the
company,' he added.
