AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. is nearing a restructuring deal that would help stave off a near-term bankruptcy filing while turning down a competing financing offer from senior lenders including Apollo Global Management Inc., WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The proposed deal, which could be announced within days, would require bondholders to provide a $200 million senior loan and to swap their unsecured claims at a discount for new, second-lien debt, people familiar with the matter said. Private-equity firm Silver Lake Group LLC, which has a representative on the company’s board and owns $600 million of convertible bonds, would swap for first-lien debt. Senior lenders including Apollo, Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP and Ares Management Corp. have pushed back against the proposal, which would allow Silver Lake to share in the collateral pledged to them. The group, which is represented by law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, submitted a counterproposal in recent days in which they offered to inject an additional $200 million in senior debt financing, on top of $200 million supplied by junior bondholders. As a condition of the counteroffer, the senior lenders wanted Silver Lake blocked from swapping into the top-ranking debt and subordinated beneath the senior loans in the payment line.
