Fugro announced it has arranged new long term loan agreements: (1) It has agreed upon a $ 909m US private placement with 27 UK/US investors ($ 750m, L 67.5m, € 35m), with an average coupon of 4.5% and maturity in blocks of 7, 10, and 12 years. (2) It is finalising documentation for the prolongation of the committed bilateral bank facilities for a total amount of € 725m with an interest rate of Euribor + 130bp, with maturity of 5 years.
Previous loan facilities:
At the end of 2010, a total of € 110m in debt was drawn from various private placements with interest rates between 6.45% and 7.1% and maturity between 2012 and 2017. A total of € 492m was drawn from the € 500m bank facilities, which had an interest rate of Euribor + 180bp.
Our view:
These new financing facilities should lower interest costs by an estimated € 5m pre-tax and € 4m net, and they will extend maturity. We consider both characteristics positive. No major change to our estimates.