Marconi secures £4bn rescue deal from banks

Telecoms equipment maker Marconi said this morning it had agreed with bankers to complete a multibillion pound financial rescue…

Telecoms equipment maker Marconi said this morning it had agreed with bankers to complete a multibillion pound financial rescue by March 15th.

"The timetable gives us a clear path to our emergence before the end of our financial year," Chief Executive Mr Mike Parton said.

Marconi also named Mr John Devaney, a former boss of utility Eastern Group, as its new chairman, effective immediately.

The once highly regarded British company has struck a deal with bondholders to write off £4 billion sterling (€6.3 billion) of debt in exchange for 99.5 per cent of the company.

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Formerly a conglomerate known as GEC, which built everything from washing machines to radar for fighter planes, Marconi tried to cash in on the Internet boom by streamlining its holdings to focus on building telecoms equipment.

But Marconi has cut thousands of jobs battling the dot-com downturn.

The restructuring plan had included an initial cash payment of £260 million (€409 million) to creditors, with £95 million of that having been paid in the form of interest payments, it said.