Banks agree Gateway plan

BANKS that are owed pounds 1.4bn by Isoceles, the troubled Gateway supermarket group, have agreed in principle to a debt restructuring that will create a new company with only pounds 500m of debts.

The deal, which is being presented in detail to the group's 37 creditor banks on Tuesday, will involve Isoceles being ring- fenced in an operating company with pounds 500m of debt.

Under the plan, pounds 900m of debt will be placed in a holding vehicle, which will have no claim over the assets of the operating company unless it makes disposals or starts generating spare cash.