SCHMOLZ + BICKENBACH successfully completes refinancing
Lucerne, April 1, 2020 – SCHMOLZ + BICKENBACH, a global leader in special long steel, announces the successful completion of its financial restructuring. Following the capital increase of CHF 325 million completed in January 2020, the company has now signed the new financing agreements with the banks and its major shareholder BigPoint Holding AG, which will run until March 2025.
The financing of the SCHMOLZ + BICKENBACH Group is now based on the three pillars of the syndicated loan, the ABS program and the shareholder loan. The existing syndicated loan was increased by EUR 90 million from EUR 375 million to EUR 465 million. At the same time, the term was extended to five years until March 2025. The company also received a shareholder loan of EUR 95 million with the same term from its major shareholder BigPoint Holding AG, which holds 49.6% of the shares. The term of the existing ABS program of EUR 230 million plus USD 70 million was also extended until March 2025.
As part of the refinancing, on March 31, 2020, the company also redeemed the validly tendered bonds with a maturity until 2022. The repayment was triggered by the change of control in connection with the capital increase on January 8, 2020. The nominal value of the redeemed bonds amounts to EUR 328.753 million.
The refinancing is linked to the successful implementation of a detailed operational improvement and transformation program validated by independent external experts. This program has already been initiated and is subject to close monitoring of progress by the Board of Directors and the Group Executive Board. Furthermore, additional measures are continuously identified as part of the program to further improve the robustness of the company and the service to customers. Due to the Corona crisis, the effects of which are already being felt, the company is also reviewing in which countries and by which legal entities government support can be applied for. The focus here is on securing jobs and liquidity.
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