Energy Future Holdings Corp. and its senior creditors agreed to an $800 million deal aimed at bringing the owner of Texas's largest network of power lines works out of chapter 11 next year, according to a securities filing yesterday, Reuters reported. The deal follows a federal appeals court ruling in November that found Dallas-based Energy Future was liable for paying hundreds of millions of dollars in early redemption premiums, or make-whole claims, to its first-lien and second-lien noteholders. In response, Energy Future rewrote its bankruptcy exit plan to shift the cost of the ruling to junior creditors by reducing their payouts. Under the terms of the settlement, Energy Future agreed to pay its first-lien noteholders 95 percent of their make-whole claims if junior creditors back the new bankruptcy plan, according to the filing. Double-digit interest continues to accrue on the make-wholes, and Energy Future estimated the first-lien claim to be worth $574 million if the company exited bankruptcy in April. The company agreed to pay second-lien noteholders 87.5 percent of their estimated make-whole claim of $244.6 million.
