TROUBLED telecoms equipment maker Marconi refused to rule out further job cuts as it put back the target completion date for a £4bn financial restructuring.
The group is filing a scheme of arrangement with the High Court which will give control to creditors, with Marconi's heavy debts exchanged with lenders for a stake in the company.
Shareholders will see their stake diluted to less than one per cent of the company in a deal which has taken a year to negotiate.
Marconi is now aiming for a May 31 completion date for the deal. It had originally planned for restructuring to be arranged by January 31 but this was subsequently delayed until March 15.
Completion of the deal could see Marconi dissolved and delisted from the London Stock Exchange to be replaced by a new entity.
Chief executive Mike Parton warned: "We are not out of the woods yet."
Outside its London headquarters, the company has regional bases in Coventry, Nottingham, Liverpool and Chelmsford in Essex.
At the end of November, Marconi employed about 17,300 people compared with 32,600 in September 2001.
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