Shareholders in Eurotunnel have given their backing to a rescue plan that will wipe out a large portion of the Channel Tunnel operator’s debt mountain.

The support comes despite unrest among British shareholders unhappy at the loss of their £1-a-trip unlimited travel through the tunnel.

The AMF, the French stock market regulator, announced yesterday that shareholders controlling 87 per cent of the Anglo-French group’s capital had tendered their shares in the offer.

Jacques Gounon, the chairman and chief executive, said: “Eurotunnel is saved . . . The unquestionable success of the offer confirms [shareholders’] commitment to this great group. It enables Eurotunnel to have a fresh start.”

Groupe Eurotunnel, a new vehicle, will take control of Eurotunnel’s assets, which include a concession to operate the Channel Tunnel for another 80 years. The new group will carry only £2.8 billion of debt, against £6.2 billion in the existing company.

Eurotunnel shareholders who have tendered their shares could hold as little as 13 per cent of the new group as part of the debt-for-equity rescue. Shareholders will control a rising proportion of the shares if the new group pays back a convertible loan note on time.

Groupe Eurotunnel has 39 months to pay back a £1.2 billion loan note. If it proves successful, the stake of existing shareholders will rise to 67 per cent of the company.

Eurotunnel has been besieged by problems since its creation, having been saddled with construction costs of £10 billion, well above forecasts. Although the group’s operations now generate profits, the size of interest payments meant that without the rescue package Eurotunel would have been heading for collapse.

Shareholders had until the close of business on Monday, May 21, to tender their shares. Earlier in the month the company won the right to reduce the level of support it needed.

Under French rules the company involved is excluded from the tender process, making it difficult to tell how well an offer is proceeding. Had the tender failed, the company would have lost the protection of the Paris Commercial Court and would have been forced to repay its debts immediately. Mr Gounon said that the group would reopen the tender offer for those shareholders that had not yet tendered their shares.

Shares in Groupe Eurotunnel will be listed on Euronext and the London Stock Exchange once the final formalities are completed.

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