Troubled Austrian property company Immofinanz and its CEE development arm Immoeast announced on Friday that they have reached an agreement with a consortium of European banks on the restructuring of a EUR 415 mln syndicated loan.
Troubled Austrian property company Immofinanz and its CEE development arm Immoeast announced on Friday that they have reached an agreement with a consortium of European banks on the restructuring of a EUR 415 mln syndicated loan.
The agreement follows 12 months of negotiations with a consortium of 10 lenders. The consortium members are Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich, WestLB, Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen, BNP Paribas, Eurohypo, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, Oberbank, Credit Suisse, Investkredit Bank and Allgemeine Sparkasse Oberösterreich Bankaktiengesellschaft.
The loan was arranged by WestLB and Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich in 2006 with the maturity date in 2012/13.
Immofinanz said that the credit restructuring will have 'several positive effects'; in particular the elimination or introduction of higher limits on the company's financial covenants and default criteria, as well as the extensive cancellation of its repayment obligation.
As part of the restructuring deal, the company has 'voluntarily' pledged to repay EUR 100 mln and EUR 75 mln respectively in the current and next business year. The loan, which was granted to Immoeast, will be secured through a guarantee from Immofinanz as well as through Immoeast properties in the CEE region.
'Despite the still tense situation on the credit markets, the Immofinanz group has managed to successfully continue its long-time cooperation with financing banks in Austria and abroad,' the company said.
