Copenhagen, 2013-03-04 08:30 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
ISS A/S, one of the world’s leading facilities services companies, announced today that it is seeking the consent of its lenders under the SFA (Senior Facilities Agreement dated 28 March 2005 as amended from time to time) for an extension of certain tranches under the SFA and other amendments that intend to increase ISS’s operational and refinancing flexibility, including the use of disposal proceeds. At the same time, ISS intends to raise new term loans to repay its existing EUR 600 million Second Lien Facility.
During the last years ISS has continued to demonstrate solid financial and operational performance, including securing some of the largest global contract wins in its history as well as continued strong development in emerging markets. ISS remains focused on the on-going strategic review of its business units and divestment of non-core activities. As a result of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and KIRKBI Invest A/S EUR 500 million equity investment in August 2012, ISS significantly strengthened its financial profile.
ISS remains very committed to deleveraging and ensuring that ISS benefits from a simpler, stable, long-term capital structure. In line with this strategy, ISS now seeks to extend the facilities that mature on 31 December 2014 (the Revolving Credit Facility and the L/C Facility) and on 30 April 2015 (Term Loan B and Acquisition Facility B) by 3 years. At the same time, ISS intends to refinance its EUR 600 million Second Lien Facility (Facility D) which matures on 30 June 2015, with new senior debt that will be raised in a combination of amortising and/or bullet tranches in EUR and USD. In addition ISS is seeking lender consent for a number of amendments that will increase the operational and refinancing flexibility, as well as introduce certain post-IPO flexibilities.
Full details of the proposed amendment and extension (A&E) will be provided to ISS lenders on 7 March 2013, the same day as ISS announces its 2012 full year financial results. ISS has already received support for the A&E from key lenders and indicative commitments for the new facilities exceeding the EUR 600 million.
ISS Group CFO Henrik Andersen commented: “As ISS continues its strong cash flow generation and debt reduction, we found the time was right to address the majority of our debt. With the initiative announced today we are not only aiming to extend the current maturities, but also ensure that we can use the proceeds from our on-going divestments against the most expensive part of our debt. In addition, we ensure that our debt has sufficient flexibility to last through and after a potential IPO”.
Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Nordea and UBS are acting as bookrunners on the amendment and extension process, as well as on the refinancing.
For media enquiries
Kenth Kærhøg, Head of Group Communications, +45 38 17 62 05
For investor enquiries
Barbara Plucnar Jensen, Head of Group Treasury, +45 38 17 62 60
About the ISS Group
The ISS Group was founded in Copenhagen in 1901 and has grown to become one of the world’s leading Facility Services companies. ISS offers a wide range of services such as: Cleaning, Catering, Security, Property and Support Services as well as Facility Management. Global revenue amounted to DKK 78 billion in 2011 and ISS now has more than 530,000 employees and local operations in more than 50 countries across Europe, Asia, North America, Latin America and Pacific, serving thousands of both public and private sector customers. For more information on the ISS Group, visit www.issworld.com.
ISS A/S, CVR 28 50 47 99, ISIN XS0253470644
ISS Global A/S, ISIN XS0206714247
