Bank of the West led the fifth amendment to American Vanguard’s second amended and restated credit agreement, increasing the ratio of maximum loan to trailing EBITDA (as defined in the agreement) to 4.25-to-1 and then gradually decreasing the ratio to current levels over the next three calendar quarters.
“For over 30 years, our lending group, led by Bank of the West, [has shown] continued support for our business,” Eric Wintemute, chairman and CEO of American Vanguard, said. “We appreciate their vote of confidence in us. Amidst uncertainty brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, we are fortunate to be considered an essential business under three of the 16 categories within the federal CISA guidelines, namely, ‘food & agriculture,’ ‘chemical’ and ‘public health.’ While we have been able to operate our entire global operations, including our four factories, continuously throughout the pandemic, we are cognizant of the fact that COVID-19 is affecting many sectors.
“In the interest of ensuring that we have adequate working capital to navigate through these extraordinary times, we reached out to our lending group to obtain additional headroom on our financial covenants. With the fifth amendment, we are better able to focus on managing our business without interruption and to continue pursuing our strategic objectives, such as SIMPAS and Envance natural oil products. We will, of course, continue to exercise strict discipline with respect to operating expenses, while addressing our many markets globally.”
American Vanguard is a diversified specialty and agricultural products company that develops and markets products for crop protection and management, turf and ornamentals management, and public and animal health.
