Chipita seals deal with banks on Nikas

The year has started with the completion of an important deal that is set to signal the recovery of cured meat producer Nikas and expand the activity of new owner Chipita beyond the category of snack foods.

The eagerly anticipated agreement with the banks for the restructuring of Nikas's loans and its takeover by entrepreneur Spyros Theodoropoulos was signed on Friday and announced on Monday at the Athens Exchange.

This is the first loan restructuring of a major Greek enterprise, and it is expected to include a haircut on debts and interest amounting to some 37 million euros.

After the completion of the share capital increase provided for in the deal, Chipita will control more than 90 percent of Nikas, and the aim is for all procedures to be completed in time for the implementation of the new business plan to get under way from the second quarter of 2017....