UPDATE 1-Champion Enterprises signs forbearance agreement
* Lenders to forbear from taking actions on payment failure
* Co gets waivers of certain financial covenants
Oct 13 (Reuters) - Factory-built homes maker Champion Enterprises Inc CHB.N said its lenders agreed to refrain from taking actions after it failed to make certain payments.
Under the waiver and forbearance agreement Champion Enterprises signed on Friday, the lenders also agreed to forbear from accelerating the maturity of the loans outstanding under the credit agreement, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The forbearance agreement provides waivers of certain financial covenants as of the end of the second and third quarters of 2009, the company said in the filing. Champion Enterprises, which has been hit by the housing downturn and has cut jobs and closed facilities to save costs, said it failed to make principal installments of $1.5 million and interest and fee payments of about $1.9 million.
In August, the Troy, Michigan-based company said it was not in compliance with its financial covenants and was in discussions with a third party that has expressed interest in making an investment in the company. [ID:nBNG429620]
Champion Enterprises shares, which have lost more than 87 percent of their value in the last one year, closed at 44 cents Monday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Bhaswati Mukhopadhyay in Bangalore; Editing by Anne Pallivathuckal)
