EUROPE: Wagon leasing and logistics company VTG announced on January 12 that it had refinanced a large proportion of its existing bank loans, concluding new financial agreements for €1·2bn or about two-thirds of its total financial liabilities with an international consortium of 12 banks led by KfW IPEX-Bank and UniCredit.
The new arrangements comprise a €500m credit line with a seven-year term and a €400m credit line of up to five years. An additional three-year credit line of €300m provides flexibility for growth-related investments.
VTG expects annual savings of €10m, with one-off expenses of €7m. ‘The new financing structure allows us to benefit from the current low level of interest rates, while consolidating and standardising the credit structures of both VTG and the acquired AAE Group’, said Mark Stevenson, executive board member responsible for financing. ‘This represents an important step towards attaining the medium-term financial targets we have set for 2018.’
VTG has a lease fleet of more than 80 000 wagons, and also offers rail and tank container logistics services. It expects revenue of between €1·0bn and €1·1bn and EBITDA of between €325m and €350m for 2015.
