Mizuho International and an unnamed private equity investor reportedly made an offer to buy Mayflower Corp. for a package worth £80-95 million ahead of the company's filing for administration. As first reported on LMW's Web site, the investment group was willing to buy the company's £221 million in bank debt and pari passu bonds for about £50-60 million and provide the company an additional £30-35 million needed to properly restructure, explained one source familiar with the negotiations. But after 14 hours of negotiations, no agreement could be reached.
The bid would give bank debt holders about 22% recovery on a present value, compared to a report from Deloitte & Touche that estimated bank debt holders receive about 22.5% recovery in the future, said the source. "It became clear that it was too late to reverse course. The company's lenders could not reach an agreement to keep it out of administration," the source added. The investment group's bid was dependant on keeping Mayflower out of administration. The administrators will now begin selling off the company piecemeal, he added.
The investment group met with Alan Jamieson, Mayflower's chief restructuring officer and recently appointed ceo; and Mayflower's bank group, including lead lenders Credit Suisse First Boston and The Royal Bank of Scotland, as well as HSBC Bank, which leads a receivables facility for the company.
Mizuho International officials declined comment. Calls to CSFB, RBS, and HSBC were referred to spokespeople who either declined comment or did not return calls. Calls to Nick Dargan and Nick Edwards, Mayflower's administrators from Deloitte, were referred to a spokeswoman, who declined to comment. Jamieson could no longer be reached at Mayflower.