Furniture supply firm to go to court to rubber stamp debt restructuring plan

18th March | finance | The parent of foam supplier Vitafoam and underlay manufacturer Ball & Young hopes to wipe almost £500m off its debt burden by swapping it for equity. British Vita, a chemicals firm with large furniture and furnishings interests, has secured provisional agreement from its senior lenders but must now go to court to push the restructuring plan through.

The scheme has been put forward by the Texas Pacific Group, the company’s private equity owner, and would see debt reduced to about £90m with a similar amount of cash being pumped into the business by lenders.

The company’s lender base comprises more than 50 institutions, four fifths of which have already given their approval to rubber stamp the debt for equity swap.  Ball & Young is among the UK’s leading carpet and hard flooring underlay firms, while Vitafoam is a major supplier to the British bedding and upholstery sectors.