Debt agreement saves Nine Entertainment

Nine Entertainment has avoided administration, with its lenders taking control of the company after reaching a deal over its $3.3 billion debt.

Reports say Nine Entertainment has secured a lifeline after lenders reached agreement on its debt.

Nine Entertainment has avoided administration, with its lenders taking control of the company after reaching a deal over its $3.3 billion debt.

A relieved-looking Nine CEO David Gyngell emerged from a meeting of creditors in Sydney on Wednesday to announce that "there is a deal" and the company, owner of the Nine Network, is now debt-free.

"We have a fully capitalised business," Mr Gyngell told reporters.

"All those doomsayers out there are going to have to eat their words.

"We have never had a more powerful balance sheet.

"We are ready to rock and roll for next year."

Nine owed $2.3 billion to US hedge funds Apollo and Oaktree and a further $1 billion to investment bank Goldman Sachs.

Each lender has taken a stake in the company in return for its debt, with the hedge funds taking the largest share.