64 International Financing Review February 29 2020The facility is aligned to Croda’s
commitment to be climate positive by 2030
as part of its sustainability strategy Smart
Science to Improve Lives.
The strategy has been developed in line
with UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Croda said it is committed to becoming
climate, land and people positive by 2030.
4HEûRElNANCINGûANDûISSUEûOFû53ûPRIVATEû
placement bonds in 2019, meant Croda had
£1.059bn of committed debt facilities at the
end of 2019 with principal maturities
between 2023 and 2029 and committed
facility headroom of £463.8m.
Previously, Croda had two club facilities
INCLUDINGûAûaMûlNANCING ûORIGINALLYû
agreed in 2014 via bookrunners and
mandated lead arrangers Barclays,
Clydesdale Bank, HSBC, Royal Bank of
Scotland and Santander; and lead arrangers
Bank of China, Commerzbank and SMBC.
There was also a £100m facility agreed in
2016 via Bank of China, Barclays,
Commerzbank, HSBC, Royal Bank of
Scotland, Santander and SMBC.
Both facilities were due to mature in July
2021.ASCENTIAL GETS REFIBusiness information services group ASCENTIAL
has agreed an expanded £450m multi-
currency revolving credit facility, replacing
the company’s existing term loans.
NatWest and BNP Paribas coordinated the
RElNANCING ûWHILEû!SHURSTûADVISEDûTHEû
lenders.
4HEûPREVIOUSûlNANCING ûWHICHûWASûDUEûTOû
mature in February 2021, comprised term
loans of £66m, €171m and US$96m as well
as an undrawn RCF of £95m.
4HEûlNANCINGûHASûANûINITIALûlVE
YEARû
maturity but may be extended through two
one-year extension options.
The RCF also features an accordion facility
of up to £120m or 150% of Ebitda.
4HEREûAREûTWOûlNANCIALûCOVENANTSû
comprising maximum net leverage of up to
3.25 times with options for additional 0.5
times leverage spikes for relevant
acquisitions; and minimum interest cover of
3.0 times.
4HEûPREVIOUSûlNANCINGûWASûARRANGEDûINû
February 2016 as part of the company’s IPO
via coordinating bookrunners and
mandated lead arrangers Bank of America,
Deutsche Bank, and BNP Paribas Fortis.
The term loans paid margins ranging
from 150bp-300bp over Libor/Euribor
depending on leverage; while the revolver
paid 125bp-275bp with a commitment fee of
35% of the applicable margin.
4HEûPREVIOUSûlNANCINGûHADûAûSEMI
ANNUALû
tested leverage covenant of a maximum 3.5
times./NûCOMPLETIONûOFûTHEûNEWûlNANCINGû
capitalised arrangement fees of £1.2m on
the previous loans will be written off in 2020
as exceptional costs. Expected fees of £3.9m
ONûTHEûNEWûlNANCINGûWILLûAMORTISEûOVERûTHEû
life of the facility.VITEC SEALS £165m REFIImaging equipment company VITEC has
agreed a £165m multicurrency revolving
credit facility, replacing a £150m that was
due to mature in July 2021.
4HEûlNANCING ûWHICHûWASûAGREEDûWITHûAû
SYNDICATEûOFûlVEûBANKS ûHASûAûlVE
YEARû
maturity with two one-year extension
options.
4HEûPREVIOUSûlNANCINGûWASûARRANGEDûINû
July 2016 for £125m via Fifth Third Bank,
HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, UniCredit
and Wells Fargo Bank.
4HEûlNANCINGûWASûINCREASEDûTOûaMûINû
November 2018.
With half its revenues coming from
products either sourced from China or
made in Italy, Vitec estimates that the
coronavirus outbreak could impact its
lRST
HALFûANDûFULL
YEARûûOPERATINGû
PROlTûBYûaM
aM
The company also said that as it
works with a variety of customers on
large sporting events, the coronavirus
outbreak could see large events being
cancelled, which would also affect its
results.
Vitec’s customers include broadcasters,
lLMûSTUDIOS ûPHOTOGRAPHERSûANDû
enterprises, as well as independent content
creators.IHG PLANS LIBOR REPLACEMENTINTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS GROUP has started
reviewing and planning for the expected
discontinuation of Libor after 2021.
The company’s main exposure to Libor is
the underlying reference rate on its existing
US$1.275bn syndicated revolving credit
facility and its US$75m bilateral RCF, which
both mature in March 2022.
)('ûSAIDûTHEûTERMSûOFûTHEûlNANCINGSûWILLû
need to be renegotiated to address the
transition from Libor.
The replacement of Libor with alternative
reference rates is not expected to have a
material impact on IHG at this stage, the
company said.
The syndicated loan was put in place in
March 2015 via Bank of America, Barclays,
HSBC, MUFG, Royal Bank of Scotland and
SunTrust Bank as bookrunners and
mandated lead arrangers.
4HEûlNANCINGûPAYSûAûMARGINûRANGINGûFROMû
40bp to 100bp over Libor depending on
IHG’s consolidated net debt to Ebitda ratio.NORTH AMERICA
UNITED STATES
MONDELEZ RETURNS FOR RCFSnack maker MONDELEZ INTERNATIONAL has
signed a US$1.5bn 364-day revolving credit
facility, replacing an existing 364-day
revolver arranged in February 2019.
4HEûlNANCINGûWILLûBEûUSEDûFORûGENERALû
corporate purposes, including working
capital, and to support the company’s
commercial paper programme.
The facility may be extended by a further
year.
4HEûlNANCINGûPAYSûAûMARGINûANDûFACILITYû
fee based on Mondelez’s long-term senior
unsecured debt ratings (currently BBB/Baa1).
For A/A2 the margin is 83.5bp over Libor
with a 4bp facility fee; for A-/A3 it is 95.5bp
and 4.5bp; for BBB+/Baa1 it is 107.5bp and
5bp; for BBB/Baa2 it is 118bp and 7bp; and for
lower than BBB/Baa2 it is 128.5bp and 9bp.
The highest available rating applies.
!LTHOUGHûTHEûlNANCINGûPAYSûTHEûSAMEû
all-in pricing as the previous facility, lower
facility fees mean undrawn pricing has
decreased.
Administrative agent JP Morgan together
with Citigroup, Credit Suisse, HSBC, Bank of
America, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank,
Goldman Sachs, Mizuho Bank, Societe Generale,
TD Securities and Wells Fargo as joint lead
arrangers and joint bookrunners.
BofA, Citi, Credit Suisse and HSBC are co-
syndication agents.
BBVA, Banco Santander, Commerzbank, Credit
Agricole CIB, Intesa Sanpaolo, SMBC, Westpac, US
Bank, PNC Bank, Truist Bank, NatWest, Morgan
Stanley, Banco Bradesco, DBS Bank, Northern
Trust, Standard Chartered and Standard Bank of
South Africa also participated.
Mondelez tapped the loan market in
September 2019 for a US$1bn term loan for
its wholly-owned Dutch subsidiary
Mondelez International Holdings
Netherlands.
4HATûlNANCING ûWHICHûWASûFORûGENERALû
corporate purposes including dividend
payments, capital reduction, intercompany
loans and the repayment of debt, comprised
a US$500m three-year term loan and a
53MûlVE
YEARûTERMûLOAN
Mondelez brands include Oreo, Cadbury,
Wheat Thins, Toblerone and Trident.BOEING UPS LOAN TO US$13.8bnBOEING has increased its loan to US$13.825bn
from US$13bn after two new lenders joined
the banking group.9 IFR Loans 2322 p 55 - 72 .indd 64 28 / 02 / 2020 18 : 11 : 32