EBRD issues unsecured loan EUR 217 million for GOGC Eurobond refinancing
23 September, 2020
GOGC and EBRD have agreed that loan amount of EUR 217 million will be used to refinance Company’s existing USD 250 million corporate Eurobond debt. Bonds were listed on London Stock Exchange in 2016 for the period of 5 years and as per tenure, the Eurobonds had to be fully repaid in April, 2021.
From the beginning of the year, GOGC engaged syndicate of leading investment banks with the aim to conduct market exercise as early as March of 2020 However, due to the spread of COVID-19 and subsequent downturn of the financial markets, Liability Management process was temporarily suspended in a wait for more favorable market conditions, Consequently, GOGC, following the syndicate’s advice , decided to put transaction on hold and in parallel from April 2020 started to seek alternative financing options .
As a result of extensive negotiations with the EBRD, GOGC signed a 10-year loan agreement in September 2020 which now sufficiently provides for amount payable on outstanding Eurobonds.
According to Mr. George Bakhtadze, General Director of GOGC, this Loan Agreement ensures maintaining a long-term financial stability of GOGC and significantly reduces its financial expenses.
"Terms of the new credit facility are even better than the terms we would have had if the refinancing took place before the pandemic. Additionally, this is a 10-year loan agreement, while the tenure of potential new Eurobonds was envisaged to be 5 years. Therefore, in spite of new COVID19 pandemic and ensuing instability on financial markets on the global scale, GOGC effectively managed to secure funding to refinance existing Eurobonds. This enables us to implement planned projects with greater flexibility" – stated Mr. George Bakhtadze.
From the beginning of the year, GOGC engaged syndicate of leading investment banks with the aim to conduct market exercise as early as March of 2020 However, due to the spread of COVID-19 and subsequent downturn of the financial markets, Liability Management process was temporarily suspended in a wait for more favorable market conditions, Consequently, GOGC, following the syndicate’s advice , decided to put transaction on hold and in parallel from April 2020 started to seek alternative financing options .
As a result of extensive negotiations with the EBRD, GOGC signed a 10-year loan agreement in September 2020 which now sufficiently provides for amount payable on outstanding Eurobonds.
According to Mr. George Bakhtadze, General Director of GOGC, this Loan Agreement ensures maintaining a long-term financial stability of GOGC and significantly reduces its financial expenses.
"Terms of the new credit facility are even better than the terms we would have had if the refinancing took place before the pandemic. Additionally, this is a 10-year loan agreement, while the tenure of potential new Eurobonds was envisaged to be 5 years. Therefore, in spite of new COVID19 pandemic and ensuing instability on financial markets on the global scale, GOGC effectively managed to secure funding to refinance existing Eurobonds. This enables us to implement planned projects with greater flexibility" – stated Mr. George Bakhtadze.