Press Release 07/06/2011 11:00
Sanoma has closed the syndication regarding a EUR 522 million Term Loan Facility and a EUR 132 million Term and Revolving Credit Facility with a group of 13 banks. These credit facilities will be used to finance the acquisition of the SBS free-to-air TV activities in the Netherlands and Belgium from ProSiebenSat.1.
The EUR 522 million facility has a maturity of 5 years and its margin is between 1% and 2%, depending on Sanoma's leverage. The EUR 132 million facility is split into a EUR 87 million 5 year term loan and a EUR 45 million 5 year multicurrency revolving credit facility and it is for the Dutch Sanoma Image B.V., owned by Sanoma and Talpa as a minority shareholder.
The syndication was launched on 3 May and closed significantly oversubscribed.
BNP Paribas, ING Bank N.V. and Nordea Bank Finland Plc were acting as Mandated Lead Arrangers, Bookrunners and Underwriters of the facilities. ABN Amro, Danske Bank, DnB Nor, Handelsbanken, Pohjola Bank, RBS, SEB and Swedbank were acting as Mandated Lead Arrangers. Citi and Goldman Sachs were acting as Co-Lead Arrangers.
The acquisition of the Dutch activities is still subject to the approval of the Netherlands Competition Authority (NMa). The entire transaction is estimated to be finalised during the summer.
Sanoma Corporation
Kim Ignatius
Chief Financial Officer
Additional information:
Sanoma's Investor Relations, Kare Laukkanen tel. +358 105 19 5064 and Anna Tuominen tel. +358 105 19 5066 or ir@sanoma.com
Sanoma.com
Sanoma inspires, informs and connects. As a diversified media group, we bring information, experiences, education and entertainment to millions of people every day. We make sure that quality content and interesting products and services are easily available and meet the demands of our readers, viewers and listeners. We offer a challenging and interesting working environment for nearly 20,000 people in over 20 countries throughout Europe. In 2010, the Group's net sales totalled EUR 2.8 billion.