Etihad Airways-linked bonds face restructuring amid Abu Dhabi silence | ZAWYA MENA Edition

Etihad Airways-linked bonds face restructuring amid Abu Dhabi silence | ZAWYA MENA Edition:

The issuer of $500 million in bonds directly linked to Etihad Airways is looking at restructuring options as Abu Dhabi, which owns the carrier, has not intervened to avoid a default. An Amsterdam-based special purpose vehicle called SPV Equity Alliance Partners (EAP) issued a $700 million bond in 2015 and $500 million bond in 2016 for Etihad and other airlines it partially owned at the time, including Alitalia and Air Berlin. The bonds have been trading at a discount of over 25 points since last year, when Alitalia entered special administration and Air Berlin filed for bankruptcy, but the notes kept afloat because of market expectations of financial backing by Etihad, the borrower of reference under the special purpose vehicle, or by other Abu Dhabi entities.