Puerto Rico’s power utility struck a deal with a group of creditors that seeks to allow the bankrupt U.S. commonwealth to restructure more than $8 billion of bonds, according to an announcement by government authorities on Friday, Reuters reported. A group of Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) bondholders, bond insurer Assured Guaranty Corp, along with the island’s government and federally created financial oversight board, reached a restructuring support agreement that would reduce the utility’s debt by up to 32.5 percent. The move paves the way for a plan of adjustment for PREPA, which filed for a form of bankruptcy in July 2017 after a previous restructuring deal fell apart. The latest agreement, which requires support from at least 67 percent of voting bondholders to materialize, would shed about $3 billion in debt service payments over the next decade. The deal also requires the approval of a U.S. judge hearing Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy cases, as well as legislative action.
