Groupe Casino signed a new €2 billion ($2.2 billion) revolving credit facility, which will mature in October 2023, as part of its refinancing plan.
Twenty-one French and international banks took part in this facility:
- BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole CIB, Crédit Agricole Paris Ile de France, Crédit Lyonnais, Credit Suisse, HSBC, JPMorgan, Natixis and Société Générale acted as arrangers and bookrunners
- Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Bradesco, Citigroup, Crédit Industriel et Commercial, Goldman Sachs, ING, Itau BBA, La Banque Postale, MUFG, Natwest, Rabobank and Santander acted as arrangers.
Casino, Casino Finance and Monoprix are the borrowers under this facility. The documentation includes change of control provisions aligned with the existing documentation.
It also includes two financial covenants, which will be tested on a quarterly basis (and for the first time on March 31, 2020) at the France Retail plus E-commerce perimeter:
- A ratio of adjusted gross debt to EBITDA, the level of which varies over time
- A ratio of EBITDA to financial expenses that needs to be higher than 2.25x
The amount of the existing Casino and Monoprix revolving syndicated facilities, currently €2.2 billion ($2.4 billion), maturing in 2021 and 2022, will be reduced by the amounts extended into the new revolving credit facility. The existing Casino and Monoprix bilateral lines will be fully repaid and cancelled.
The new revolving credit facility improves the group’s liquidity by increasing the average maturity of credit facilities in France from 1.6 years to 3.6 years.