VimpelCom’s indebted Italian unit Wind Telecomunicazioni has won consent from a majority of lenders for proposed amendments to its senior facilities agreement, part of a multi-step refinancing plan.
The proposed amendments include extending the…
VimpelCom’s indebted Italian unit Wind Telecomunicazioni has won consent from a majority of lenders for proposed amendments to its senior facilities agreement, part of a multi-step refinancing plan.
The proposed amendments include extending the maturity of the agreement by two years and up to an extra €800m (US$1.1bn) worth of transaction costs, fees and expenses.
According to IFR, the amendments also include new “portability features” which enable the debt to remain in place in the event Wind changes ownership. The portability features apply if total net debt is below 4.25x and senior secured leverage below 3x, or if Wind is taken over by a listed company with a market capitalisation equal to or larger then VimpelCom’s and mobile licences in the EU, Canada, Switzerland and/or the United States, the report stated.
The amendments to the agreement are a precursor to the refinancing of Wind’s €1.3bn worth of PIK notes. Wind is reportedly considering two options for this. One would see VimpelCom inject €500m in cash before raising €3.7bn of new Wind notes and using €51m of cash on balance sheet. The second option would see VimpelCom inject the same amount of cash and the remaining PIK notes refinanced with new PIK toggle notes.
Russia-focused VimpelCom announced last week that it is considering a multi-step refinancing plan for Wind that could include a €500m cash injection. The plan also incorporates a concurrent refinancing of Wind’s junior secured notes due 2017.
VimpelCom said the aim of the plan is “to provide the group with significant interest cost savings, stronger cash flow generation, a deleveraging trajectory and an extended maturity profile”.
Existing lenders have until 2 April to grant consent for the proposed amendments to the senior facilities agreement. The cash injection and refinancing are also subject to relevant corporate approvals, including from VimpelCom’s supervisory board.
