OREANDA-NEWS. UC RUSAL (SEHK: 486, Euronext: RUSAL/RUAL, Moscow Exchange: RUALR/RUALRS), a leading global aluminium producer, is pleased to announce an update on the refinancing of its PXF facilities.

The Company and the coordinating banks have made significant further progress in obtaining the support of the PXF lenders, which support overall is now at 94 percent. The Company is continuing to seek the support of the remaining 6 percent of lenders.

In the meantime, however, in the absence of unanimous lender support, and with strong support of the coordinating banks, the Company is proposing to apply to the courts in England and Jersey to pursue a scheme of arrangement to implement the Amendment Agreement.

Schemes of arrangement have become an important restructuring tool in recent years. Their principal purpose is to allow a restructuring to take effect which has widespread creditor support and is determined by a court to be for the general benefit of a company's creditors. In order to be approved by the courts, the scheme of arrangement will require the support of at least 75 percent by value and a majority in number of the relevant classes of lenders. It prevents a few hold outs from frustrating the will of a large majority of a сompany's creditors.

To provide additional time in order either to obtain the support of the remaining lenders or to obtain approval of a scheme of arrangement, a majority of the Company's PXF lenders have confirmed that they will execute an extension of the existing forbearance period to the end of October 2014.

Oleg Mukhamedshin, Deputy CEO, Director of Strategy, Business Development and Financial Markets at UC RUSAL commented: “We are pleased that efforts to refinance our debt portfolio have attracted such significant lender support. We are disappointed, however, that these have not been supported by a very small minority of lenders. Such proposals will stabilize and strengthen RUSAL's debt profile and financial position for the benefit of the Company and all of its creditors. For that reason, the Company is determined to implement them with the help of the courts, together with the support of the vast majority of its PXF lenders.”

Earlier this year the Company reached agreements with the Russian lenders in respect to their respective debts, including its major lenders Sberbank and Gazprombank, and also changed the terms of its corporate rouble bonds approving a coupon rate under the Issue (first tranche series 07) for a two-year period.