OHLA completes agreement to issue 130 million guarantees and refinance bonds at 10% | Companies

A key week for the future of OHLA. Management is finalizing an agreement with bondholders and banks, which could be finalized by Friday, to ensure financial stability for several years. One of the milestones, according to sources close to contacts, is the immediate release of 100 million euros of inaccessible deposits out of a total of 140 million that guarantee the current guarantee structure that the company has. To this 100 million, another 30 million could be added in the short term, the recovery of which will depend on an improvement in the current Caa2 credit rating with a negative outlook provided by Moody’s.

A group chaired by Luis Amodio is discussing with the bank a new guarantee line worth close to 350 million. The state organization Cesce will provide guarantees for more than half, which means that support for the continuation of contract work and the above-mentioned provision of monetary guarantees are practically guaranteed.

These are two of the conditions that Audax Renovables President José Elias has set for himself to contribute 50 million to the capital increase that OHLA will present at the extraordinary meeting on the 22nd. Elias himself, according to the same sources, was directly involved in the contacts. with the bank. Another new investor, this time from the real estate sector, is Mexican Andres Holzer, who is ready to invest $25 million. The controlling shareholder, the Amodio family, which owns 26% of the capital, is preparing to invest 26 million euros.

Three parties have signed commitments in this regard, although two outside investors condition their entry on the easing of financial tensions. Another requirement for the capital increase, up to a maximum of 150 million, is debt reduction and bond refinancing. In this case, OHLA yesterday sought a fresh waiver to defer the payment of the coupon until the 18th of this month with the intention of concluding various ongoing negotiations. Management advised noteholders of its intention to immediately amortize the cash transfers due March 2025 with an outstanding balance of $174 million and carry forward to the last day of 2029 the $261 million due March 2025.

The construction company is fighting to keep the coupon at around 10%, a target that sources believe has been achieved despite bondholders’ initial stance to increase that interest rate by two points, which is the same as what OHLA is currently paying for the bonds.

The development of a new financial and capital structure also prompted OHLA yesterday to ask banks to extend the maturity of a $40 million bridge loan signed in May 2023 as part of the sale of services subsidiary Ingresan. This loan, which pays Euribor plus 5.5%, was 70% covered by the ICO and has Ingesan’s own shares as collateral. It is scheduled to expire on November 19.