Gulf Keystone extends deadline for lenders to accept loan proposals

Oil explorer Gulf Keystone Petroleum said it has given its lenders more time to accept an incentivised offer to accept changes of $250m (£167m) of loan notes.

Earlier in March, the London-listed group announced it was set to breach a technical covenant of the debt in a bid to amend the loan terms with its lenders.

Among the reviewed loan terms, the Kurdistan-based oil firm included an “early consent fee”, which would see lenders receive $5 for every $1,000 of the loan principle if they agreed to the proposed changes before 23 March.

The group has now extended the deadline to 1 April, adding that a meeting of lenders will be hold to vote over the firm’s proposed changes.

Under the previous agreement, lenders accepting the changes between 23 March and the current deadline, would have received $1.50 for every $1,000.

The loan notes carry 13% interest and are due in 2017.

Gulf Keystone shares were up 1.84% to 37.30p at 09:05 on Tuesday.