Finance

Lecta Group issues bonds worth of 590 million Euros

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Lecta, i.e. the European paper group controlled by CVC Capital Partners, also owning Cartiere del Garda, finalized the issuance of “High Yield” bonds (i.e. high-yield but high-risk bonds) at a variable interest rate worth 225 million Euros expiring in 2022 and at a fixed interest rate worth 375 million Euros expiring in 2023. The new issuance of bonds was launched within the framework of the refinancing of the group debt. The new bonds were assigned a B2 rating by Moody’s, which reminded that the ratio between the net financial debt and the corrected ebidta of the group was still 7.9 times at the end of March 2016, although it had significantly decreased from the 12.2 times registered at the end of 2013. In its note Moody’s furthermore clarified that at the same time the new revolving credit line worth 80 million Euros expiring in 2018 provided by the banks to Lecta will be replaced by a new line of 65 million Euros in six years, with the possibility of increasing it to 80 million Euros. In 1997 had CVC had namely acquired the Cartiere del Garda from the German Bertelsmann with the aim of using the Italian company as a platform to create a major European group. And this is what happened, as Lecta then acquired the French Condat, the Spanish Torraspapel and, in Italy again in April 2012, Polyedra, which was at the time the second largest Italian paper distributor after Burgo. As highlighted in the last presentation to investors, in the 12 months that ended at the end of March the group registered revenues for 1.47 billion Euros (1.49 billion Euros at the end of 2015 with an ebitda of 110 million Euros).