German cable operator Kabel Deutschland (KDG) has asked lenders to amend some of the terms on its senior credit facilities and to delay repayment until 2014.
KDG, owned by private equity firm Providence, is also looking to raise up to E800m ‘to take…
German cable operator Kabel Deutschland (KDG) has asked lenders to amend some of the terms on its senior credit facilities and to delay repayment until 2014.
KDG, owned by private equity firm Providence, is also looking to raise up to E800m ‘to take advantage of the current attractive M&A environment’.
The company said in a statement: “KDG has formally requested amendments to certain terms of its existing senior secured credit facilities to increase the company’s flexibility for potential acquisitions and to reduce restrictions on new borrowings for the refinancing of existing senior secured debt. The company is also seeking a number of technical amendments to the existing Credit Agreement.”
Almost half of lenders are understood to have already approved the amendments, which would see KDG delay the payment of up to E1.3bn of debt from 2012 and 2013 to 2014.
KDG, which has over E3bn of debt, said that while it was ‘confident with its current capital structure, the Company believes it is prudent to have sufficient flexibility to pursue potential strategic acquisitions, as they might occur particularly in the current M&A environment, and also to extend debt maturities’.
Senior lenders have been asked to give their consent by January 29 with an early-bird deadline of January 22.
If KDG were to have sufficient funds for M&A then fellow German cableco Tele Columbus, which has been taken over by creditors, would likely be a target.
