Sponda Oyj : guides debt investors on the future restructuring of the financing and the security required by the already taken and future refinancing activities and the impact on the balance sheet structure

Sponda Plc Stock Exchange Release December 8, 2017 at 15:40

Sponda guides debt investors on the future restructuring of the financing and the security required by the already taken and future refinancing activities and the impact on the balance sheet structure

On October 28, 2017, Sponda Plc ('Sponda') announced that Sponda group companies have signed secured facilities agreements for approximately EUR 1.6 billion. In addition to the already signed facilities agreements, group companies are contemplating signing a new secured facilities agreement for approximately EUR 0.6 billion in the near future. The new facilities are to be used for refinancing existing indebtedness of group companies and for certain general corporate purposes, including possible distributions of funds.

Taking into account the already signed facilities agreements of approximately EUR 1.6 billion and the contemplated facilities agreement of approximately EUR 0.6 billion, Sponda group companies will be party to facilities agreements amounting to approximately EUR 2.2 billion in total. The above-mentioned already signed and contemplated secured facilities agreements will be entered into with financial institutions and Sponda and certain group companies will pledge real property and other assets with a total aggregate value of approximately EUR 3.3 billion as well as certain receivables as security for such loans. Real property and other assets with a value of approximately EUR 0.6 billion fall outside the scope of the already signed and contemplated secured facilities agreements discussed herein but might be subject to pledge arrangements in potential future financing activities.

In addition to the above-mentioned already signed and contemplated secured facilities agreements, Sponda and certain other group companies intend to continue to undertake further measures to restructure the financing of the group. The intention is to, among other things, arrange additional secured, interest-bearing financing from other sources in an amount of approximately EUR 0.4 billion, using the above-mentioned assets of approximately EUR 3.3 billion as well as certain receivables to provide second priority security. The additional financing are to be used for, among other things, certain general corporate purposes, including possible distributions of funds. In addition, Sponda has, on December 5, 2017 redeemed its hybrid bond the redemption notice of which was published by Sponda on November 2, 2017.

The value of the security assets granted by Sponda and certain of its subsidiaries as security for the above-mentioned financing arrangements exceeds the threshold of 20 percent of Sponda's total consolidated assets mentioned in the terms and conditions of Sponda'sEUR 150 million notes due 2018 and EUR 175 million notes due 2020. Accordingly, Sponda previously notified the holders of the notes of the possibility to demand prepayment in accordance with the terms and conditions of the notes. As notified earlier, any demands for prepayment must be delivered to Sponda directly or through the relevant arrangers of the notes no later than on December 22, 2017.

The above-mentioned financing arrangements will have an impact on Sponda's key balance sheet ratios and existing target equity ratio guidance. Depending on the final amount of the interest-bearing loans of the group and the final purpose of the facilities, the equity ratio may be approximately 30 percent or below and the Loan-to-Value ratio will likely be above the level of 65 percent.

Sponda Plc

Board of Directors

Further information: Niklas Nylander, CFO, tel. +358 40 754 5961

Sponda in brief:
Sponda is a property investment company specializing in commercial properties in the largest cities in Finland. Sponda's business concept is to own, lease and develop retail and office properties and shopping centers into environments that promote the business success of its clients. As at September 30, 2017, the fair value of Sponda's investment properties was approximately EUR 3.9 billion and the leasable area was approximately 1.2 million square meters.

This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Sponda Oyj via Globenewswire