Eurotunnel launches €915m rights issue

Eurotunnel launched a deeply discounted €915.4m rights issue that it billed as the last major piece of a financial restructuring that has seen it eliminate more than £5bn in debt from its books.

The seven-for-four rights issue at €8.75 per share - a 28 per cent discount to its share price - will be underwritten by a consortium of banks including ABN Amro, Lazard, HSBC, Lehman Brothers and UBS.

The deal will allow the Channel Tunnel operator to cancel the remaining half of €1.6bn in convertible notes it has outstanding. Eurotunnel did an €800m fundraising earlier this year. The company will now have “more room to manoeuvre” said Jacques Gounon, the chief executive.