Bayside and LBO France inject fresh money into Consolis

Bayside – HIG Capital's credit arm – underwrote new super-senior credit facilities totaling €45m, while LBO France provided another €45m in fresh equity.

The refinancing also included the deferral of senior debt maturities and the conversion into equity-like instruments of approximately half of Consolis's senior debt and all of its junior debt.

The company's net debt is believed to have been reduced from €760m to around €300m.

Previous funding
LBO France bought Consolis from IK Investment Partners in 2006 for around €940m, or approximately 7.5x EBITDA. KBC underwrote the debt package at the time, which saw the deal leveraged at approximately 5.5x EBITDA.

Consolis has been struggling since then, seeing its EBITDA more than halve in the past four years and reportedly breaching several banking covenants.

Consolis had already undergone a previous refinancing in 2011. LBO France was then understood to have injected a further €35m of equity into the firm while lenders loosened debt covenants and extended repayments.

Company
Consolis manufactures concrete elements used in the construction industry. The group operates more than 100 companies in 30 countries. It posted a €1.3bn turnover and €75m EBITDA last year.

The company is the result of the merger of two firms, French business Bonna Sabla and Finnish Consolis Oy, in November 2005. Bonna and Sabla were both founded in the 1890s as a supplier of pressure pipes and a lime manufacturer, respectively, while Consolis Oy commenced operations in the 1940s.

People
Lionel Laurant led the deal for Bayside.

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• Topics
• Benelux
• Restructuring
• Industrials
• Refinancing
• HIG Capital
• LBO France
• Belgium