French retailer Groupe Casino has launched a new senior unsecured bond maturing in April 2027 with a targeted amount of €425 million.
It is part of a new refinancing plan announced by the company on 22 March to extend the maturity of its debt and reduce costs.
Restrictions On Dividends
The new Casino, Guichard Perrachon SA bond will include the same restrictions on dividends as those of the financings undertaken since November 2019.
As a result, dividend payments will be restricted unless the group's covenant consolidated leverage ratio is below 3.5x post-payment of any dividend.
Together with the cash raised by the new Term Loan B Facility, the new bond will be used to reimburse and cancel the group's existing Term Loan B Facility maturing in 2024, Casino added.
The settlement of the transactions is expected to occur in the coming weeks.
In February of this year, the retailer reported an operating profit of €1.426 billion, up 25.2% at constant exchange rates, helped by cost savings and higher sales in top markets France and Brazil.
Asset Sales
Casino, which also controls Brazil's Grupo Pao de Acucar, has been selling assets to reduce debt.
At the end of 2020, the retailer lowered its gross debt by €1.3 billion to €4.8 billion, exceeding its target of €5 billion.
The group has sold €2.8 billion in assets, including several hundred Leader Price stores to Aldi.
In December of last year, the company launched a new senior unsecured bond worth €300 million maturing January 2026 as part of its transaction to reinforce its financial structure.
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
