Irish metal- and glass-packaging group Ardagh has announced the successful closing on a five-year asset-based revolving credit facility of $850 million with a consortium of leading international banks.
The new facility will provide funding for working capital and general corporate purposes, as well as further diversify Ardagh’s funding sources and enhance its capital structure.
This follows significant refinancing activity earlier this year, to materially extend debt maturities and reduce financing costs, according to the company.
Beverage-Can Growth
The credit facility was secured by trade receivables and inventories, replacing existing facilities of €150 million and $200 million, respectively, reflecting Ardagh’s growth following a 2016 acquisition, the company said.
Citi acted as administrative agent and, jointly with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, as global coordinator on this transaction, with Barclays, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and Wells Fargo acting as joint lead arrangers, joined by J.P. Morgan, Rabobank, ING and HSBC.
In April, 2016, the Ardagh group announced that it was entering into an agreement with Ball Corporation and Rexam PLC to purchase certain metal beverage-can manufacturing assets and support locations in Europe, Brazil and the United States, for an enterprise value of $3.42 billion, which made it the third-largest beverage-can maker in the world.
The company reported a €6.3 billion revenue increase in 2016, representing 22% growth on the previous year, which it attributed to the purchase.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Kevin Duggan. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
