Paris, 1st April 2015 – Eutelsat Communications (NYSE Euronext Paris: ETL) announces today the early refinancing of the 800 million euro bank term loan of the holding company, Eutelsat Communications S.A, expiring in December 2016.
The refinancing, arranged by a pool of nine banks*, was undertaken via the following operations:
A new term loan of 600 million euros expiring in March 2020 (with two possible extension facilities of one year each subject to lender agreement) remunerated at a EURIBOR rate plus a margin linked to the long term rating attributed to Eutelsat Communications S.A. by Standard & Poor’s (S&P);
The early reimbursement of 200 million euros, using the Group’s cash reserves which amounted to 469 million euros at 31 December 2014.
These operations enable Eutelsat to extend its debt maturity profile and will reduce financial charges by circa 15 million euros before tax on an annualized basis[1].
At the same time, the Group renegotiated a revolving credit facility of 200 million euros for a duration of five years with two possible extension facilities of one year each subject to lender agreement, replacing the previous facility of the same amount, expiring in December 2016.
*The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, HSBC France, Intesa Sanpaolo SpA and Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking acted as mandated lead arrangers and book-runners. Mizuho Bank Ltd., Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentrale and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Europe Limited acted as mandated lead arrangers. Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank acted as facility agent.Caisse régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel de Paris et d’Ile de France acted as a lender.
[1]Excluding arrangement fees and hedging instruments
About Eutelsat Communications
Established in 1977, Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL, ISIN code: FR0010221234) is one of the world’s leading and most experienced operators of communications satellites. The company provides capacity on 34 satellites to clients that include broadcasters and broadcasting associations, pay-TV operators, video, data and Internet service providers, enterprises and government agencies.
Eutelsat’s satellites provide ubiquitous coverage of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Americas, enabling video, data, broadband and government communications to be established irrespective of a user’s location.
Headquartered in Paris, with offices and teleports around the globe, Eutelsat represents a workforce of 1,000 men and women from 32 countries who are experts in their fields and work with clients to deliver the highest quality of service.
For more about Eutelsat please visit www.eutelsat.com
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