Morrison Knudsen Gains Breathing Room

Financially troubled Morrison Knudsen Corp. said it has signed an agreement in which creditor banks will delay collection of $110 million in debts until May 31.

The agreement also makes $50 million available for new loans to give the 83-year-old construction and engineering company more time to pay down some $235 million in short-term debt it owes to a consortium of banks.

New Morrison Knudsen Chairman Robert S. Miller, the turnaround specialist who helped save Chrysler Corp. in the 1980s, called the agreement “a big vote of confidence from the banks,” but acknowledged MK remains in trouble.