Spanish retail group DIA has said that it has entered into a standby underwriting commitment with Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc, for an amount of €600 million, as the group seeks to strengthen its capital structure.
The group said that it will put the commitment, under which Morgan Stanley will undertake to place and, failing that, to subscribe 100% of such amount, to its shareholders.
Earlier, DIA had said that it is in 'advanced conversations' with its reference banking entities over refinancing its bank debt, and will notify the markets of this process in due course.
The retail group made the statement to counter what it described as 'alleged news' in the media that DIA had sought the release of its debt 'or any alternative other than the full recognition and discharge of amounts owed to them and to any other financial creditors'.
DIA added that it has the 'full support' of suppliers and other commercial partners during this process, 'with whom it holds commercial relations that are being satisfied by all parties in an optimal way and to whom it thanks for their confidence'.
Earlier this week, DIA dropped out of Spain's Ibex stock index, and has issued a number of profit warnings over the past year.
It also recently announced a number of senior leadership appointments, including a new chief financial officer, Enrique Weckert Molina.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
