(Bloomberg) -- Italian construction engineering firm Rizzani de Eccher SpA is kicking off talks with its creditors once again to refinance debt and obtain credit lines to fund future projects, according to people familiar with the matter. 

The latest negotiations come as the debt-laden company eyes strategic partnerships in the sector, said the people familiar, who declined to be identified as the matter is private. 

After years of losses, Rizzani de Eccher has been shifting its focus to developed markets, including domestic projects in Italy. It took a hit from political turmoil in Algeria and had to exit Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, according to the people familiar and corporate filings seen by Bloomberg News. 

Rizzani de Eccher declined to comment. 

According to the latest available annual statements, the firm owed more than €200 million ($219 million) in debt to banks as of December 2021. That comes due in 2024, although the company has planned amortization payments leading up to that date. The group also had €165 million of supplier debt and some export financing from national credit insurer SACE SpA. 

The creditor talks come less than 18 months after Rizzani de Eccher obtained €30 million in new funding from state-backed lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA (CDP). The convertible bond was issued under a national program designed to help Italian companies recover from the pandemic, the so-called Patrimonio Rilancio. 

CDP didn’t respond to a request for comment. 

The CDP intervention was part of a broader agreement between Rizzani de Eccher and its lender banks, which included Unicredit SpA, Intesa Sanpaolo SpA and BNP Paribas SA; in exchange for the new state financing and a €4.5 million capital increase from shareholders, the lenders granted it a covenant holiday through to the end of 2022, together with new credit lines, according to filings seen by Bloomberg News. 

With its roots in a company founded in Udine, Italy, about 190 years ago, the firm has 2,500 employees across the world, according to its website. Its projects include the Hyatt Regency hotel in Moscow, metro lines in Dubai and the Citylife residential complex in Milan. 

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