France's Theolia in debt deal, plans capital hike

French wind farm operator Theolia , which cut back on growth plans last year due to the credit crisis, struck a debt restructuring deal and announced a capital increase to help finance future projects. Theolia, whose shares fell more than 12 per cent following the announcement, was forced last year to scale down its ambitions and cut costs to focus on preserving cash as a result of the economic downturn, which made financing for new power projects harder to come by. However, the company said on Tuesday that there were signs that conditions within its market sector were improving. Theolia, which reported a first-half net loss of €14m in August, said on Tuesday it had agreed with the majority of its creditors to extend the maturity on its convertible bonds. It added it was planning to launch a capital increase for a maximum of around €100m ($144.1m) early next year either through a rights issue priced at €1 per share or through the issue of warrants.