Europcar cut the size of its new bond issue and sweetened the terms for investors at a time when its owner is plowing more money into the continent’s biggest car- hire company.
The operator of more than 1.2 million vehicles in North America and Europe sold 324 million euros of senior, subordinated five-year notes, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Europcar cut the offering from 335 million euros, three bankers involved in the deal said.
The proceeds will be used to refinance existing debt and, as part of the reorganization, Europcar’s private-equity owner is injecting more equity into the fleet operator. Paris-based Eurazeo SA (RF) will put 110 million euros into the business, up from the 90 million euros announced in a statement last month, two of the bankers on the bond sale said.
“This large original issue discount and all-in yield should get investors comfortable, plus the small additional 20 million euros from the shareholder,” said Tatjana Greil Castro, a portfolio manager at Muzinich & Co. Ltd. in London, which oversees $14 billion of high-yield assets.
Marine Boulot, a spokeswoman for the car-hire operator, declined to comment, as did Eurazeo spokesman Charles Fleming.
Europcar sold the bond at a yield of 14 percent, boosted from the 12.25 percent to 12.5 percent originally marketed, said a banker on the deal, who declined to be identified because the information is private.
Call Eliminated
The company also eliminated the option to redeem the bonds early. Initially, it proposed a three year so-called call option at investor presentations at the end of April, which was reduced to 2 1/2 years before being scrapped.
In addition to the equity injection, Europcar will set aside 20 million euros of cash from its balance sheet for debt repayment, the bankers said. The new bond will refinance Europcar’s 425 million-euro, second-lien floating-rate note maturing in May 2013, according to an April 24 statement.
The company, in the middle of a program to cut costs and develop new products, reported a 3.5 percent drop in operating profit to 235 million euros in 2011 from a year earlier, according to its earnings statement. Sales were flat at 1.97 billion euros.
The rental company trimmed net debt to 2.9 billion euros from 3 billion euros in 2010. Europcar is rated B3 by Moody’s Investors Service, while Standard & Poor’s grades it one level higher at B.
Deutsche Bank AG, Credit Agricole CIB, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Societe Generale SA and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc were lead managers of its transaction. BNP Paribas SA and Lloyds Banking Group Plc acted as bookrunners.
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