(Bloomberg) -- A group of lenders are set to take over the UK cinema chain Vue International from its Canadian pension fund owners in a restructuring deal for part of the firm’s £700 million ($828 million) debt.

Barings LLC, Farallon Capital Management LLC, Invesco Ltd., PGIM Investments LLC, Lord Abbett & Co LLC will swap a portion of the debt they own in the company for equity, with owners Alberta Investment Management Corporation and Omers exiting the firm, according to people familiar with the matter. 

Vue, which has 228 sites across nine European countries, was among cinema chains that were hit hard by virus-fueled lockdowns, and was forced to furlough much of its workforce. The Canadian pension funds took control of Vue in 2013, in a deal that valued the firm at £935 million. 

As part of the agreement, the company will convert £465 million of debt into equity and receive a cash injection of £75 million to cover a funding gap that’s expected later this year, according to the people, who declined to be identified discussing confidential information. The new money will be structured as a super senior term loan, one of the people said. 

The group of lenders led by Barings and Farallon represent about 60% of the first lien loans, one of the people said, and other creditors can join the deal in the next two weeks. The existing management team will stay in place and work with the new owners, the person added.  

Omers will get rights to receive a small part of the proceeds in the event that Vue is sold at a certain valuation in the future, one of the people said. Spokespeople for Vue and Invesco declined to comment. Representatives for Barings, Farallon, PGIM, Lord Abbett, AIMCo and Omers didn’t respond to requests for comment. 

Sky News reported on the restructuring earlier. 

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