NII Holdings announces agreement on reorganization plan

Reston-based NII Holdings Inc. and 12 of its subsidiaries have reached an agreement with major stakeholders on terms on a Chapter 11 reorganization plan.

NII, a Fortune 500 company, provides mobile communications services in Latin America under the Nextel brand. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September.

“After months of hard work, we are pleased to announce an agreement on the key terms of a reorganization plan that provides a path for the company to emerge from bankruptcy in a healthy financial position to effectively compete in the wireless marketplace,” Steve Shindler, NII Holdings' chief executive officer, said in a statement.  “This deal is an important step in the process and allows us to move forward and present our reorganization plan to the court for its approval.” 

NII said terms of the reorganization received approval from its two largest creditors and the official committee of unsecured creditors.

The company said the reorganization plan will:

• strengthen its balance sheet by converting $4.35 billion of its unsecured notes into equity interests in the reorganized company; 

• enhance the reorganized company's liquidity by providing $500 million of new capital through a fully backstopped $250 million rights offering of its stock; and

• implement a settlement of all claims related to intercompany and inter-creditor disputes.

For the third quarter, NII had consolidated operating revenues of $927 million, a 15 percent decrease compared with the third quarter of 2013. The company had a net loss from continuing operations of $457 million for the quarter.