Lenders extend Jackson Hewitt's principal payment deadline
* Says lenders amend credit agreement
* Amendment delays $30 mln principal payment to May 20 (Follows alerts)
(Reuters) - Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc , the second-largest U.S. tax preparer, said its lenders amended a credit agreement, delaying a principal payment and the possibility of a pre-packaged bankruptcy.
The amendment extends the date by which the company has to make a $30 million principal payment, due April 30, to May 20, the company said in a regulatory filing.
The amendment also gives the company time until May 20 to work with the lenders to agree upon a 'mutually satisfactory restructuring' of its balance sheet.
In March, Jackson Hewitt said it was working with its lenders on a restructuring plan that may include a pre-packaged bankruptcy as it struggled to make payments on its ballooning debt. [ID:nL3E7EA1LW]
Jackson Hewitt, which had $362.3 million in outstanding debt under the credit agreement as on Jan. 31, had less than $5 million in cash and cash equivalents, according to a regulatory filing on March 10. (Reporting by Jochelle Mendonca and Tenzin Dekeva)
