Yıldız Holding restructures $1 billion loan: Chair

Yıldız Holding has recently restructured a $1 billion loan under favorable conditions, the company chair said in a letter to employees.
Yıldız Holding Chair Murat Ülker said the company had agreed to a long-term loan of $1 billion on the terms it requested, without providing additional details, following a Bloomberg News report, which noted the company was in talks with 10 lenders on loan restructuring.

“We made our ordinary annual meeting with lenders to share our 2017 results and 2018 projections on Feb. 6,” Ülker said, adding he had wanted “to inform employees in line with the company’s transparent communications rules.”

In the meeting, the lenders offered the company a new syndicated loan by combining all loans together in a bid to evade any complications and to support the company’s future growth, Ülker said.

“As a first step of the deal we reached yesterday, we have secured a long-term loan of $1 billion on the terms we had requested,” he noted, while also praising the robust structure of Turkey’s lenders.

Ülker Bisküvi, Yıldız Holding’s largest listed unit in Turkey, said it has a strong financial structure and its debt ratios are low compared to international standards and peers following news reports.

“Based on the 2017 financial data prepared in accordance with the Tax Procedure Law, Ülker Bisküvi A.Ş. and related companies achieved record high growth in Turkey based on production, sales and export operations,” the company said to the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP) on Feb. 9, after the company’s shares fell 2 percent.

Compared to the year 2016, the net sales of Ülkerincreased by 14 percent and the net profit improved by 39 percent compared to the same period, according to the statement.

“Our company has a strong financial structure and its debt ratios are low compared to international standards and peers,” it said.