FairPoint launches exchange offer - Charlotte Business Journal:

tatyanagepoji.blogspot.com
Charlotte-based FairPoint says the offer is designec primarily to reducethe company’s second- and third-quartere interest expenses. It also will help keep the companu in compliance with its senior secured creditfacilityh agreement. FairPoint says it believes the exchanged offer is critical to itscontinued viability. The telecommunication company says it is working with its financia l adviser to evaluate itscapital structure. Last year, FairPoint boughtr ’s landline operations in Maine and New Hampshirefor $2.3 The deal made FairPointr (NYSE:FRP) the country’s eighth-largest telephone company.
But FairPoinrt took on substantial debt to do the and the integration did not go Problems in converting billingto FairPoint’s systemn from Verizon’s led to slow collections and frustratedd customers. Phone and e-maiol service problems cropped up across thenew network. And regulatorss in the region expressed dissatisfaction with some of the During thefirst quarter, FairPoint drew $50 million underd its $170 million credit facility. As of March 31, only $4.7 million remained available to The company says liquidithy remainsa problem. In addition, cash collectione have remained below the levels it had before switchinb Verizon customers to theFairPointf system.
Should those factors persist, the company says it may be unabled or unwilling to makeits Oct. 1 interesyt payment on the notes, which coulde constitute a default. The exchange offer expires July 22.