PARIS — Mobile satellite services provider Globalstar on April 15 continued its high-wire act by securing an agreement from debt holders for another week’s forbearance, to April 22, with the possibility of another extension, the company announced.
Covington, La.-based Globalstar has some $71 million in notes that were callable as of April 1. The company, which now has 24 second-generation satellites in low Earth orbit, does not have the cash to pay these notes. It has been negotiating with their owners and with the French export-credit agency, Coface, to restructure Globalstar’s debt and avoid a default on the Coface-backed financing.
Coface had backed Globalstar’s senior secured credit facility once Globalstar decided that French-Italian satellite builder Thales Alenia Space would build the second-generation satellites and Evry, France-based Arianespace would launch them aboard Russian Soyuz rockets.
An initial two-week extension beyond April 1 was approved by the note holders before the latest agreement.
Globalstar said it would need the approval of its lenders, including Coface and the banks associated with the Coface-backed financing, before any debt restructuring could be put into place.
“All parties have negotiated and continue to negotiate in good faith, and we thank them for their continued efforts,” Globalstar Chief Executive Jay Monroe said in an April 15 statement.
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