Potential new financing for AbititiBowater

Newsprint maker AbitibiBowater Inc., which earlier this week ended a $1.8 billion refinancing attempt, said Thursday it aims to add two investors to its lending syndicate for a boost to its financing of at least $50 million.

The U.S. company, which has administrative headquarters in Montreal, is talking with its lenders about Steelhead Partners LLC and Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., which have expressed a willingness to contribute at least $50 million of financing for AbitibiBowater's Bowater Inc. unit.

"We believe the additional funds proposed to be made available by Steelhead and Fairfax would provide us with sufficient short-term liquidity while we continue to address our restructuring of Bowater's debt," William G. Harvey, chief financial officer, said in a statement. "The approval from and support of our banks in this process is a crucial step to a successful outcome."

Wednesday, the company terminated an offer to exchange about $1.8 billion in debt for new offerings that carry a higher interest rate. The company did not state why it was withdrawing the offer, but it had extended the deadline several times.

AbitibiBowater was created in 2007 in a combination of U.S.-based Bowater and Canada's Abitibi-Consolidated.