Edenor launches offer for up to US$65mn in debt

Argentine distributor Edenor has launched a cash offer for up to US$65mn of its US$500mn debt, the company said in a statement to the Buenos Aires stock market Wednesday. The offer closes on December 10. Edenor has offered to pay US$700-750 for every US$1,000 of debt, with preference given to those creditors that offer the lowest amount, the statement said. "This is part of our strategy to reduce our level of debt and it is a positive sign for our creditors," an Edenor spokesperson told BNamericas, adding that the company has US$65mn of cash available for the operation. "If we were in conditions to make an offer for all of the debt, we would be doing a global renegotiation with all of the creditors, but obviously we don't have the cash for that so this is a partial operation," the official said. JP Morgan Securities will manage the offer. Edenor has paid interest on its debt since Argentina's economic crisis and rates freeze in early 2002, but it has been unable to make capital payments because of the effect of the devaluation of the peso on its mainly US dollar-denominated debt. Edenor has defaulted on about US$300mn of its debt, with another US$200mn still outstanding.