Comercial Mexicana

Comercial Mexicana's long-running debt restructuring bid appears to be drawing to a close after it agreed in principal a deal to repay the majority of its main creditors, a move that could see restructuring ended by the end of 2009.

Mexico's third-largest supermarket chain, which defaulted on its debt in October after the global economic crisis caused massive losses, has forged a deal with Barclays, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Santander and Banamex on the amount to be repaid over a period of eight years, according to Reuters.

Jose Calvillo, who has headed up the retailer's restructuring efforts, said that the group would repay US$950m from ongoing operations over the eight-year period.

However, the deal does not include JPMorgan chase, which has called for a payment of US$1.535bn to go to all creditors.