26 International Financing Review Asia April 4 2020› WEBJET WINS COVENANT WAIVERThree lenders to WEBJET have granted a
waiver on a leverage covenant until the
middle of next year, the travel agency said
in an ASX filing.
The next covenant test will occur on June
29 2021, with respect to four-month Ebitda
annualised, before the usual 12-month
testing resumes from December 31 2021,
the filing said.
The waiver relates to the testing dates of
June 30 and December 31 this year.
A new covenant requiring Webject to
maintain a minimum liquidity of A$100m
at all times has been added.
The company has made certain
assumptions relating to its receivables
position, and if default rates of its
customers and suppliers are higher than
expected or their payments take longer,
that will impact its liquidity position, the
filing said.
The continued support from lenders
cannot be guaranteed if there are breaches
to these terms or other circumstances cause
them to reconsider Webjet’s solvency,
creditworthiness or prospects generally.
As of end-February, Webjet had
borrowings of A$192m, net debt of A$135m
and non-current liabilities of A$90m.
The company has launched a A$275m
equity raising to strengthen its balance
sheet in light of the continued impact
of Covid-19 and associated global travel
restrictions. The proceeds of the equity
raising is expected to be sufficient to
provide operating costs through the end
of the year even if strict travel restrictions
continue, according to the filing.
Webjet acknowledges the risk that the
company may not be able to raise sufficient
additional capital in the future within an
acceptable time and terms.
That ability will vary depending on a
number of factors including stock market
and industry conditions, government
responses to the spread of coronavirus, the
company’s relationship with suppliers and
financial positions of its suppliers, the filing
said.› BROOKFIELD NETS THREE MORE BANKSThree more banks have joined the
A$1.04bn loan backing Brookfield
Property Group’s acquisition of Australian
retirement village operator AVEO GROUP.
China Minsheng Bank, State Bank of India and
Tai Fung Bank joined in the second phase of
syndication for the five-year senior secured
loan, which was launched in January.
Eight banks joined in the first phase
of syndication which was launched in
October: Bank of Baroda, Bank of Queensland,China Everbright Bank, Commonwealth Bank
of Australia, Eastspring Investments, First
Commercial Bank, Metrics Credit Partners and
National Australia Bank.
ANZ, Bank of China and Barclays are the
mandated lead arrangers, bookrunners and
underwriters of the deal, which comprises
a A$787.5m term loan cash advance
financing (Facility A), a A$154m revolving
credit portion (Facility B) and a A$100m
revolving working capital tranche (Facility
C).
Only facilities A and B, which offer
interest margins of 250bp over BBSY, were
syndicated.
Facility A will be used for funding the
acquisition and associated costs and for
refinancing Aveo’s existing debt. Facility
B will go towards current construction
projects and, along with Facility C, may also
be made available to certain units of Aveo.
HYDRA RL BIDCO, an entity controlled by
Canadian investment firm Brookfield
Asset Management on behalf of its
managed funds, implemented a scheme of
arrangement on November 28 relating to
the acquisition of Aveo.
The retirement village operator was
delisted from the Australian Securities
Exchange on December 2.› WORLEY EXTENDS A$480M DEBT MATURITYWORLEY has extended the maturity of
approximately A$480m in working capital
facilities for 12 months.
The remaining A$100m from an about
A$580m in working capital facilities
maturing in FY2020 is expected to be
renewed in June 2020, the company said
in a filing on Monday. There are no other
near-term debt maturities.
Worley’s total liquidity was A$1.36bn
on December 31, and there had been
no material change to the position as of
February 29.
The company is taking immediate
actions to control costs and manage
cashflow, while closely monitoring
customer expenditures and adjusting plans
accordingly.
In its half-year financial results on
February 24, Worley reported an interest
cover ratio of 8.5x, gearing ratio of 21.3%
and average cost of debt of 4.2%. The
company had US$175m in bilateral facilities
for working capital purposes, in addition to
a core facility of US$1.3bn.
Formerly known as WorleyParsons,
Worley is a provider of project and asset
services in energy, chemical and resources
sector.
In 2019, Worley completed an increased
US$1.3bn take-out of a bridge loan that
funded an acquisition in the US in 2018.It used excess proceeds to refinance other
debt and term out its maturity.
The five-year borrowing comprises a
US$500m multi-currency revolving credit
facility and US$800m of term loans. HSBC,
Standard Chartered and Wells Fargo
were the mandated lead arrangers and
bookrunners of the transaction, which
attracted 19 other banks in syndication,
according to Refinitiv LPC data.› WINDLAB CLOSES FINANCINGEnergy development company WINDLAB has
signed a A$20m three-year subordinated
debt facility with two firms that are looking
to acquire the company, according to a
filing to the Australian Securities Exchange
last Tuesday.
Federation Wind Acquisition and Squadron
Energy provided the loan, which pays
an interest rate of 15% per annum until
shareholders approve the borrowing and 8%
thereafter.
The interest is payable to the extent
allowed by cashflows, otherwise it will be
capitalised.
Drawdown is subject to completion of
customary conditions precedent, including
the granting of second ranking security
across the Windlab group.
The facility provides funds to manage
liquidity through any future project delays
including Kennedy Energy Park, a wind,
solar and energy storage in central north
Queensland.
“Windlab’s board examined alternative
approaches for raising capital to deal
with liquidity including potential cash
requirements for Kennedy and determined
that this transaction was on the most
favourable commercial terms and is fair
and reasonable from the perspective of
Windlab shareholders,” the company said
in the filing.
On March 4, Windlab announced it
had entered into a binding agreement for
Wind Acquisition 1, an investment vehicle
of funds managed by Federation Asset
Management Holdings and Squadron Wind
Energy Development, to acquire all of its
ordinary shares.EQUITY CAPITAL MARKETS
› IDP EDUCATION SEALS UPSIZED PLACEMENTASX-listed IDP EDUCATION has completed
a A$225m (US$137m) institutional
placement, upsized from A$175m at
launch, to support its business during the
coronavirus pandemic.
The company sold 21.1m new shares,
instead of the original 16.4m, at A$10.65B&RXQWU\LQGG