Airline catering company gategroup Holding AG has announced the completion of its financial restructuring plan and recorded a decrease in revenues for 2020.
Completion Of Financial Restructuring Plan
Gategroup said that all of the conditions to the Swiss group's financial restructuring designed to position the group for a post-COVID-19 future have been satisfied, and that completion of the restructuring has occurred.
Background
On November 26, 2020, it was announced that Gategroup, its shareholders, RRJ Capital and Temasek, and all of the group's bank lenders under the senior facilities agreement dated November 30, 2018, had agreed to the key terms and conditions of a recapitalisation of the company and amendment of the terms of the group's financial indebtedness.
On December 11, 2020, the company and Gategroup Finance (Luxembourg) S.A., as issuer of the CHF 350,000,000 3% bonds due in 2022, announced that, in order to implement certain aspects of a recapitalisation of the company and amendment of the terms of the group's financial indebtedness, Gategroup Guarantee Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, had issued a practice statement letter to holders of the bonds and the senior lenders, formally notifying them of the Gategroup Guarantee Limited's intention to launch an English restructuring plan under Part 26A of the UK's Companies Act 2006, which will, amongst other things, amend certain terms of the Bonds and the SFA.
On March 19, 2021, 99.98% by value of the bondholders present and voting at the bondholder meeting voted in favour of the plan, and 100% by value of the senior lenders present and voting at the senior Lender meeting voted in favour of the plan, being in excess of the requisite statutory majority in each case, a key milestone in the financial restructuring.
The English Court approved the plan on March 26, 2021, and the company said that it is pleased to announce the satisfaction of all conditions to the effectiveness of the plan and that completion of the transaction has occurred.
Gategroup said that the announcement of the transaction's completion completes the group's financial restructuring process, which commenced in late 2020.
Gategroup CEO Statement
Gategroup CEO Xavier Rossinyol stated, "I would like to thank our shareholders, senior lenders and bondholders for their support throughout this process and trust placed in the company. The restructuring completed today provides a firm foundation for gategroup's immediate and long-term future. The new financial structure will allow us to deliver on our business plan over the next five years, which will benefit all the group’s stakeholders including bondholders, senior lenders, shareholders, our customers, suppliers, and our employees and their families. We are on track to a successful future and positioned to emerge even stronger."
2020 Results
Gategroup newly-published full-year results for the financial year that ended on December 31, 2020, reveal that its revenues reduced to 1.55 billion Swiss francs (CHF) last year from CHF4.96 billion in 2019 due to the near-global air travel shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, gategroup experienced an earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) loss of CHF 256.7 million in 2020, which followed a profit of CHF 440.3 million in 2019, and the group's cash flow from operating activities was CHF308.0 million, which followed CHF188.1 million in 2019.
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