Şişecam to buy back Paşabahçe shares

ISTANBUL

Glass maker Şişecam has announced that it decided to buy back some of the Paşabahçe shares it sold in 2014 to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

“In accordance with the terms of the share sale and purchase/option agreement signed in November 2014 with respect to the shares of Paşabahçe, it has been decided that 152.6 million euros will be paid to the EBRD as the share price and 14.85 percent of the shares of Paşabahçe will be acquired,” Şişecam said yesterday in a filing with Borsa Istanbul.

Şişecam had sold 15.45 percent of Paşabahçe shares to the development bank for 125 million euros in 2014.

The glassmaker also said in the statement issued to the stock exchange that it would obtain a 100-million-euro credit from the EBRD with an interest rate of EURIBOR + 2.4 percent to be used for the payment of the share purchase.

“The credit will have a grace period of two years and thereafter will be repaid in five equal installment all of which will be paid in six months intervals,” the statement added.

In a separate filing with Borsa Istanbul yesterday, Şişecam also announced that following the affirmation of Turkey’s sovereign rating at BB- and revising negative outlook to stable on Nov. 1. Fitch Ratings has affirmed the credit rating of Şişecam at BB-, while changing the outlook from negative to stable.