Top story
Refresco Group (RFRG) has refinanced its €672m loan facility to help bolster its buy-and-build strategy.
The European drinks bottler has increased and extended the existing unsecured syndicated term loan facility, which was arranged back in April 2015. The new agreement, signed at the start of this month, gives Refresco an extra €200m to draw on, with a total of €872m. The facility will now mature in July 2021 and the size of the revolving credit facility amounts to €150 m.
The refinancing was subscribed to by a group of existing and new international banks. The new syndicate consists of ABN AMRO (co-ordinator), BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, Fifth Third Bank, HSBC, Mizuho Bank, Rabobank, Société Générale and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.
The unsecured syndicated term loan is expected to be used for the refinancing of the acquisition of DIS, working capital, capital expenditures, future acquisitions and other corporate purposes.
CEO Hans Roelofs: “We are pleased to have arranged this financing with such a high profile group of nine international banks, combining existing and new lenders to Refresco. The extended facility shows their continued support in the further execution of our strategy.”
The group dropped the Gerber part of its name in June to become just Refresco to reflect the completed integration of the enlarged company following the merger of the Refresco and Gerber Emig juice businesses two years ago.
It has just completed a €72m deal to buy Dutch beverage manufacturer DIS, as well as buying a PepsiCo bottling plant in Hamburg.
Refresco’s stock has nudged up this morning by 0.2% to €13.70.
Morning update
It’s a quiet start to the week with no news of note on the markets.
Majestic Wine claims it is the first national wine and alcohol retailer to become an accredited employer of the Living Wage Foundation. It will pay all employees in London a minimum of £9.40 an hour and a minimum of £8.25 an hour across the rest of the country, which is higher than the national living wage for staff older than 25 introduced by the Government in April. In addition to paying the Living Wage Foundation rate, Majestic has achieved accreditation as the first national wine and alcohol Living Wage Foundation employer covering its entire UK workforce. Majestic joins about 2,600 accredited organisations across the country.
The FTSE 100 continues its ascent, climbing 0.2% since markets opened today to 6,589.02 points.
Elsewhere, grocery and fmcg stocks have remained fairly flat so far, with stevia producer PureCircle (PURE) up 1% to 317p, Premier Foods (PFD) up by 1.2% to 42.5p and C&C Group (CCR) up 1.4% to €3.69.
This week in the City
It’s shaping up to be another quiet week as the summer holidays edge ever nearer.
Wednesday brings the annual general meetings of Booker and Sainsbury’s on Wednesday, with press attention set to focus on the wholesaler more than usual in the wake of the Brexit vote.
The biggest company news scheduled for the week comes in the shape of a Q1 update from Marks & Spencer on Thursday, which will give the City more of an idea of what new CEO Steve Rowe is up to. Analysts expect the high street bellwether to reveal a 4% decline in like-for-like sales as heavy rain washed away hopes of a boost for the clothing division.
There is also a trading update for Primark owner Associated British Foods on Thursday and the finals of Sports Direct.
No comments yet