Distribution of company announcements to the professional platforms, finance portals and syndication of important corporate news to a wide variety of news aggregators and financial news systems.
Straumur - Burdaras hf (ICE:STRB) Despite considerable financial restructuring efforts over a sustained period, XL Leisure Group Plc. ("XL", "the Company"), a substantial UK airline and travel business, has gone into Administration. Straumur-Burdaras Investment Bank hf. ("Straumur", "the Bank") has had a good lending relationship with XL for a number of years and deeply regrets this recent development.
The problems facing the airline industry in general are well documented and Straumur has been working closely with XL's management towards a solution to the difficulties facing the Company. The Bank has also committed significant additional funds in recent weeks to support the business and its management team.
Straumur's current exposure to the company amounts to EUR 45m. It is not clear at this stage to what extent this may be recovered. While the amount is not insignificant, it is limited in the context of Straumur's capital base of €1.5bn.
An agreement has been reached whereby Straumur has acquired XL's German and French subsidiaries, which Straumur considers to be financially viable and sustainable businesses. They will continue operations as separate commercial entities. It is Straumur's full intention to support their operations and the Bank will in due course review its options with regards to these holdings.
For further information contact:
Ólafur Teitur Gudnason Vice President, Media Relations Straumur-Burdaras Investment Bank hf. Tel: +354 858 6778 e-mail: olafur.gudnason@straumur.net
