PGS ASA 169 0 Kommentare Binding Agreements with Majority of Lenders

October 21, 2020: Oslo, Norway, PGS ASA (the “Company” or “PGS”) has, further to its announcement on September 25, 2020, regarding its agreement in principle on main terms with its lenders, now entered into a lock-up agreement (the “Lock-Up Agreement”) with lenders representing, in aggregate, 79.6% of its ~$350 million revolving credit facility (“RCF”) and ~$522 million term loan B facility (“TLB”). PGS has also entered into a consent and amendment agreement (the “Consent and Amendment Agreement”) with the representative of 100% of the finance parties under its ~$300 million export credit facilities (“ECF”).

Overview of the Transactions

As previously announced, the agreed terms of these transactions (the “Transactions”) will, once consummated, enable PGS to extend its current near-term maturity and amortization profile under its RCF/TLB and ECF facilities by approximately two years. Together with the cost saving initiatives previously announced, the Transactions will strengthen PGS’s liquidity profile in the currently challenging operating environment.

The main terms agreed pursuant to the Lock-Up Agreement and the Consent and Amendment Agreement are as follows:

The $135 million RCF due 2020, the $215 million RCF due 2023 and the ~$2 million TLB due 2021 will each be converted into a new TLB on the same terms as the ~$520 million 2024 TLB
Quarterly amortization payments of up to 5% per annum of the original principal amount of the ~$520 million 2024 TLB will be replaced by the new amortization payments described below
The post transaction total debt under these credit facilities of ~$872 million (subject to any increases in principal due to payment-in-kind fees and any reduction in principal due to lenders electing to exchange part of their existing debt into new convertible bonds; see further below) maturing in March 2024 will have following amortization profile (payable pro-rata to all TLB lenders):
- ~$135 million amortization payment due in September 2022
- $200 million amortization payment due in September 2023
- ~$9 million quarterly amortization starting March 2023
Quarterly amortization payments totalling ~$106 million due over the next two years under the ECF will be deferred and repaid over four quarters starting December 2022
The current excess cash flow sweep for the RCF/TLB facilities will be replaced by an excess liquidity sweep for any liquidity reserve in excess of $200 million at each quarter end, with such amounts to be applied against (i) the deferred amortization amounts under the ECF and (ii) the ~$135 million TLB amortization, until they have both been paid in full; thereafter, any liquidity reserve in excess of $175 million at each quarter end will be applied against the remaining TLB amortizations
The financial maintenance covenants will be amended, with the net leverage ratio to be 4.5x through June 30, 2021, 4.25x through December 31, 2021, 3.25x through December 31, 2022 and 2.75x thereafter
The lenders’ security package will be strengthened
Total fees across the lender groups of up to ~$7.6 million will be payable in cash and up to ~$9.9 million will be payable in kind
An up to ~NOK 116.2 million 3-year 5% unsecured convertible bond (the “CB”) which can be converted into new PGS shares at NOK 3 per share (up to a maximum of 38,720,699 shares, equalling 10% of the currently outstanding PGS shares) will be issued by PGS. Lenders under the RCF and TLB facilities will have a pro rata preferential right to subscribe for the CB against conversion of a corresponding amount of their existing secured loans. To the extent the CB is not fully subscribed, certain lenders under the TLB will (i) subscribe for 80% of the unallocated amount for cash and (ii) have the right to subscribe for the remaining 20% of the unallocated amount for cash. PGS will be able to require that bondholders convert the CB into shares if the PGS share price exceeds NOK 6 for 30 consecutive trading days