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April 14 (Reuters) - Oil and gas producer Pacific
Exploration & Production Corp PRE.TO said its board has agreed
to negotiate a financial restructuring involving private-equity
fund Catalyst Capital Group Inc and its creditors.
Weak oil prices have forced numerous companies to delay
paying interest, renegotiate agreements and even file for
bankruptcy.
Pacific Exploration, which has defaulted on certain senior
notes and credit agreements, said on Monday that it has received
a proposals from third parties regarding the restructuring.
A group of the company's shareholders asked Colombia's
markets regulator to block a possible buyout deal by Catalyst
Capital Group claiming that the offer benefited Pacific's
co-chairmen but left shareholders with nothing, the Wall Street
Journal reported on Friday.
The Journal later reported, citing sources, that the
company's board members postponed a meeting to discuss
debt-restructuring proposals after its shareholders expressed
concern over the independence of the process. (http://on.wsj.com/1Shp0kk)
The company, an ad hoc committee of noteholders, bank
lenders and Catalyst continue to be engaged in direct
negotiations to finalize the terms of the restructuring, Pacific
Exploration said in a statement on Thursday.