Background
As announced on 26 November 2020, the Group, its shareholders, RRJ Capital and Temasek (together, the “Shareholders”) and all of the Group’s bank lenders under the senior facilities agreement dated 30 November 2018 (the “Senior Lenders” and the “SFA”, respectively) have agreed to the key terms and conditions of a recapitalisation of the Company and amendment of the terms of the Group’s financial indebtedness (the “Transaction”).
On 11 December 2020, the Company and gategroup Finance (Luxembourg) S.A., as issuer of the CHF 350,000,000 3% bonds due 2022 (the “Bonds”), announced that, in order to implement certain aspects of the Transaction, gategroup Guarantee Limited (the “Plan Company”), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, had issued a practice statement letter to holders of the Bonds (the “Bondholders”) and the Senior Lenders, formally notifying them of the Plan Company’s intention to launch an English restructuring plan under Part 26A of the United Kingdom’s Companies Act 2006 (the “Plan”) which will, amongst other things, amend certain terms of the Bonds and the SFA.
On 19 March 2021:
- 98% by value of the Bondholders present and voting at the Bondholder meeting voted in favour of the Plan; and
- 100% by value of the Senior Lenders present and voting at the Senior Lender meeting voted in favour of the Plan, being in excess of the requisite statutory majority in each case, a key milestone in the financial restructuring.
The English Court has approved the Plan
The Company is pleased to announce that the English Court approved the Plan at a hearing on 26 March 2021. The Plan will become effective when the English Court’s order approving the Plan is delivered to the UK Companies Registry, which is expected to occur on or around 29 March 2021.
The Transaction is expected to complete in April 2021 upon the implementation of the final restructuring steps. From the completion date, the SFA and the Bonds will be amended as set out in the Plan and the new funding to be provided by the Shareholders will be made available to the Company. The Company will announce the completion of the Transaction in due course.
Media inquiries
Adrian Montague
+41 44 533 70 00
invest@gategroup.com
About gategroup
gategroup is the global leader in airline catering, retail-on-board and hospitality products and services. gategroup provides passengers with superior culinary and retail experiences, leveraging innovation and advanced technology solutions. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, gategroup delivers operational excellence through the most extensive catering network in the aviation industry, serving passengers from over 200 operating units in over 60 countries/territories across all continents. For further information, please visit www.gategroup.com.