African focused gold producer Perseus Mining refinanced its existing syndicated debt facility to a $300 million revolving corporate facility.
The increased facility is available for general corporate purposes, subject to the satisfaction of certain customary conditions, and combined with Perseus’s 31 December 2022 net cash position of $405 million, it provides the company with more than $705 million of available liquidity.
The upsized banking consortium consists of six international banks comprising Macquarie Bank, Nedbank, Absa Bank, Citibank, FirstRand Bank and Standard Bank of South Africa.
Perseus was advised by ICA Partners and Minter Ellison.
“Perseus is very pleased to continue to receive the strong support of a very high-quality group of international lenders at a time of significant uncertainty in global financial markets,” Jeff Quartermaine, managing director and CEO of Perseus, said. “This support is regarded as a major endorsement of the underlying quality of our assets and future cashflows. In recent years, Perseus has successfully transformed its business to become a mid-tier, multi-mine, multi-jurisdictional producer of more than 500,000 ounces of gold per year. With the increased liquidity provided by our upsized debt facility, we are able to continue to strongly pursue our ongoing growth strategy that involves a balanced combination of organic and inorganic growth activities. In this regard, Perseus expects a final investment decision later this year in relation to the fully funded development of our Meyas Sand Gold Project in northern Sudan.”
Terms of the facility are typical of a corporate line of credit of this type and quantum. Interest is payable on the loan at Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) plus a competitive credit margin. The tenure of the refinanced debt facility is three years to March 31, 2026.
