Prysmian, agrees credit facility for €800 million

 Purpose: to improve financial flexibility and extend debt average life

Prysmian SpA has agreed today a long-term credit facility for €800 million with a syndicate of major banks. The readiness and support offered by the banking system has allowed Prysmian to increase the amount originally requested and to obtain better conditions than in the forward start credit agreement signed in January 2010. The new facility will make it possible to extend the average life of debt and to re-establish the financial flexibility absorbed by the Draka acquisition.

The facility, comprising a term loan for €400 million and a revolving credit line for €400 million, has a five-year maturity and will be used not only to refinance Draka’s debt but also for the Group’s ordinary activities.

Prysmian closed financial year 2010 with an improvement in Net Financial Position to €459 million from €474 million at the end of 2009, and a NFP/Adjusted EBITDA ratio of 1.2x (adjusting for the Draka acquisition, this becomes just below 2.5x, based on the pro-forma figures at 31.12.2010).

“This new facility represents a further improvement in the Group’s financial structure, explains Pier Francesco Facchini, Prysmian Chief Financial Officer. It helps to further extend the average maturity of our debt and brings fresh financial resources at an even more attractive cost than existing facilities.”

ING Commercial Banking is the Facility Agent.

Prysmian
A leading worldwide player in the industry of high-tech cables and systems for energy and telecommunications, the Prysmian Group is a truly global company with sales in excess of €4.5 billion in 2010 and a strong position in higher value-added market segments. With its two businesses, Energy Cables & Systems (submarine and underground cables for power transmission and distribution, for industrial applications and for the distribution of electricity to residential and commercial buildings) and Telecom Cables & Systems (optical cables and fibres and copper cables for video, data and voice transmission), Prysmian boasts a global presence with subsidiaries in 39 countries, 55 plants in 24 countries, 7 Research & Development Centres in Europe, USA and South America, and around 12,000 employees. Specialising in the development of products and systems designed to meet specific customer requirements, Prysmian’s key strengths include: a focus on Research & Development, the capacity to innovate products and production processes, and the use of advanced proprietary technologies. Prysmian is listed on the Milan Stock Exchange in the Blue Chip index.