Rebel shareholder acts to block Interserve plan

摘要

Interserve's largest shareholder, Coltrane,has revised its rights-issue proposal to £110m. The asset-management firm, which owns more than a quarter of Interserve's shares, opposes the company's restructuring plan, as put forward by chief executive Debbie White last week (see above). The rebel shareholder announced that it wanted to issue the extra shares, as well as convert £435m of debt in the company into equity. This would leave existing creditors owning 55 per cent, with shareholders owning 37.5 per cent, according to a statement from Coltrane.The company had earlier offered to underwrite a £75m rights issue.