BELGIUM - Candover to invest in excess of EUR 50m in Ontex

Ontex has agreed to a financial restructuring which will see its private equity backer Candover inject more than EUR 50m into the business. Candover's stake is understood to rise to more than 80% following the restructuring. Merrill Lynch has reportedly agreed to underwrite a new debt package, that will pay off Barclays Capital, Ontex's senior lender, and the mezzanine note holders. Ontex is understood to have total debt of about €720m. Under the new debt facilities, the firms EBITDA ratio as a proportion of total debt is reported to be reduced from about 8 to 9 times, to less than 6.