Major refinancing underway for Eurazeo's Elis

The €450m in senior secured notes are due to mature in 2018. The 6% coupon will be paid semi-annually. Elis is also understood to have secured the refinancing of nearly €1bn of senior debt from its lenders – the maturity of the senior debt tranche, which was initially due to mature in 2014, has been pushed back to 2017 while Elis will also benefit from more advantageous terms in order to support its expansion.

In addition, Elis has placed €380m of senior subordinated notes and €173m in PIK notes – both maturing in 2018. These placements will be used to fully prepay Elis's existing junior mezzanine notes and the senior mezzanine notes, as well as to prepay a portion of the indebtedness outstanding under the senior facilities, the company said in a statement.

Eurazeo and its LPs backed the tertiary buyout of Elis in 2007. The deal valued the company at €2.276bn, or 10.3x the company's EBITDA at the time. The buyout house invested €393m in equity, while ECIP, a co-investment vehicle for Eurazeo's LPs, injected €75m.

Elis was one of the prime examples of overly leveraged deals in France during the boom years. BNP Paribas underwrote a €1.85bn debt package, which equated to 8.4x the company's EBITDA at the time. The bank is believed to have struggled for several months following the buyout trying to syndicate the debt package.

Eurazeo owns an 82.5% stake in Elis, a provider of flat linen, garments and hygiene products to businesses. The group employs more than 14,600 staff across 10 European countries and posted a €1.2bn turnover in 2012. Elis sold its subsidiary Molinel to workwear retailer Alisco in April.

 

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