Britain's Cineworld Group has secured waivers for its debt covenants until June 2022 along with $450 million in new loans in a deal to ride out the COVID-19 pandemic which also sees it issue equity warrants worth around 11% of its share capital.

Cineworld, the world's second-biggest cinema chain, last month closed all of its movie theaters in Britain and the United States and left as many as 45,000 workers unemployed for the foreseeable future.

"We look forward to resuming our operations and welcoming movie fans around the world back to the big screen for an exciting and full slate of films in 2021," Chief Executive Officer Mooky Greidinger said.

The cinema operator, whose base case scenario assumes it could reopen its doors by May, said its debt measures have given the company over $750 million of extra liquidity and reduced monthly cash spend to about $60 million.

The debt commitment waivers and new credit line was coupled with an extension of its revolving credit facility to May 2024, and an issue of 153.5 million equity warrants to lenders.

The warrants could translate to a nearly 10% stake for its lenders, if fully exercised, the company said.

(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Shounak Dasgupta) ((Yadarisa.Shabong@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: https://twitter.com/Yadarisa; +919742735150))