Eurotunnel has signed a preliminary binding agreement to restructure its £6 billion (€8.7 billion) debt.
The Anglo-French Channel tunnel operator said in a statement released today that it had signed the agreement with the Ad Hoc Committee of its creditors and would continue talks with other lenders, including the company's junior bondholders.
The company, whose debt has threatened its survival, added it would continue to explore with international financial institutions the best ways to put in place a new corporate financing for the group.
The problems of Eurotunnel, which was founded in 1986, stem from the soaring costs of digging the tunnel linking Britain and France and subsequent delays in the start of train services.
Eurotunnel had no comment on details of what is actually contained in the preliminary agreement, but said it showed it was making progress in its restructuring.
"A preliminary binding agreement on the financial restructuring of the group has been agreed with the Ad Hoc committee. And that's important because now things are starting to really slot in place," a Eurotunnel spokesman said.
Eurotunnel's shares are currently suspended in London and Paris.
When the tunnel railway opened in 1994, Eurotunnel's shares were trading above 400 pence in London, but the value of the shares has gradually withered in the face of the company's debt problems and it now has the status of a penny stock.