Greece Clinches Landmark Debt Restructuring Deal With Lenders LONDON - Greece said Friday that it had clinched a landmark debt restructuring deal with its private sector lenders. The deal clears the way for the release of bailout funds from Europe and the International Monetary Fund that will save the country from imminent default. Greece said that 85.8 percent of private creditors holding Greek bonds participated in the bond swap. "I wish to express my appreciation to all of our creditors who have supported our ambitious program of reform and adjustment and who have shared the sacrifices of the Greek people in this historic endeavor," Evangelos Venizelos, the Greek finance minister, said. The participation rate is a level that few would have predicted weeks ago. Greece will still need to impose so-called collective action clauses - provisions that will force the holdouts to accept the offer. But to pull that trigger with nearly 86 percent will put Greece in a much better position legally if some investors challenge the swap. Petros Christodoulou, the head of Greece's debt management agency, had told wavering bondholders that there will be no sweetheart deals for holdouts. The Institute of International Finance, the global banking body that has represented private bondholders in the discussion, circulated a confidential memorandum to European leaders recently estimating that a disorderly default by Greece, which could result in the nation's departure from the 17-nation euro monetary union, could result in losses to banks, corporations and governments of as much as a trillion euros. Although many considered the memo a scare tactic, it nevertheless seemed to have had an effect on some of the potential holdouts. When the alternative was put in such stark terms, many investors evidently concluded it would be better to accept the swap - giving them a package of foreign-law Greek bonds, as well as securities from Europe's financial rescue fund - than to end up with nearly worthless bonds subject to Greek law. The value of Greek 10-year bonds recently hit a record low of 16 cents on the euro. Still, many foreign investors say they believe that even with a successful debt swap, the Greek debt burden will remain untenable - well above the 120 percent of Greece's gross domestic product that the I.M.F. considers the highest sustainable level. And with the Greek economy still in free fall and the makeup of the next government uncertain, many analysts contend that Athens may have to restructure its debt yet again within a year or so. The successful swap deal will leave much of Greece's debt in the hands of official lenders like the European Central Bank and the I.M.F. Those institutions might ultimately face large losses themselves if Greece cannot find a way to manage its finances without further bailouts. Legal analysts contend that the Greek government's recent strategy of bluntly emphasizing the cost of not participating in the swap deal has been a significant factor behind its coming together so quickly. "What is remarkable is the speed with which this has been executed - that is unprecedented," said Michael Waibel, an expert on sovereign debt law at Cambridge.