(Bloomberg) -- The potential fallout from a lawsuit brought against Swedish landlord SBB lessened after Fir Tree Partners dramatically scaled back its holdings of bonds at the center of the case and two of its three funds dropped out.
The sole remaining claimant, Fir Tree Credit Opportunity Master Fund LP, has filed an amendment to the legal claim to decrease the amount of the notes subject to the proceedings to €7.5 million ($7.8 million) from €46 million, according to a statement by SBB on Wednesday. The Swedish property group has been in a legal tussle with Fir Tree since 2023 over an alleged breach of its consolidated coverage ratio — something SBB firmly denies.
SBB shares rose 12% in Stockholm, giving the landlord a market value of 8.5 billion kronor ($763 million). SBB’s €733.2 million notes due 2029 rose by 2 cents on the euro to 73.6 cents, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Fir Tree did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside of regular US business hours.
To counter the legal action, where SBB could be forced to repay certain bonds in full, the company last month saw the vast majority of its investors swap their existing securities into new notes totaling €2.8 billion. Those new notes also amended the covenant relating to the disputed consolidated coverage ratio, a gage of its ability to service its debt.
In addition to Fir Tree, there had been other bondholders that had notified SBB of their plans to demand repayment of their bonds. Some of those investors also participated in the exchange, thereby giving up their right to continue with legal threats, according to a December presentation from SBB.
Prior to the debt exchange, holders of around €174 million of SBB’s notes had either accelerated or threatened to do so, according to SBB. However, following the swap, there was just €54 million remaining of the relevant old bonds, showing how that the majority of investors had given up their claim.
Investors in the new notes won’t be able to demand repayment even if Fir Tree is successful in its case against SBB, reducing the risk from the lawsuit.
SBB said Wednesday that it “firmly rejects that it is in breach of the EMTN consolidated coverage ratio” and the company “is well prepared and remain confident ahead of the trial in the High Court” set to begin on Jan. 14.
(Updates market prices in third paragraph.)
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