The Europac Group signed a novation of its syndicated loan, taken out in July 2015 and revised for the last time in December 2016 for a sum of Euro 260 million. The agreement between the company and financial institutions means an additional reduction in the finance cost and an extension to the maturity dates of the loan.
The new conditions specifically mean a reduction in the interest rate of 20 additional basis points and an extension of the debt maturities by two years from 2022 to 2024. In this context, the additional credit line now available to the company came with a lower interest rate of 50 basis points.
The improved conditions tied to the previous novation of the syndicated loan, signed in December 2016, were applied during the whole of last year. Accordingly, the finance cost in 2017 dropped by 48% to Euro 6 million. Without taking into account the extraordinary effects, this reduction would have amounted to 27%.
On another note, the Europac Group renewed its commercial paper issue programme on the Alternative Fixed-Income Market (MARF), increasing its maximum amount from Euro 100 to Euro 200 million. The aim of this operation is to continue reducing finance costs and diversify sources of finance.
José Miguel Isidro, Chairman of the Europac Group, said: “These two operations, which, in addition to strengthening and making the company’s finance structure more flexible, diversify the sources of credit, reflect the extraordinary financial soundness of the group and the robust management of this matter”.
Europac is a leading, Spanish listed, approximately 42% family owned, highly complementary, vertically integrated packaging business.
