Cermaq gets bondholder approval to redeem NOK 900 million bonds

By Toni Weeks

San Luis Obispo, Calif., July 22 - Cermaq ASA received bondholder approval on July 22 to redeem its NOK 900 million of senior bonds due 2017, according to a bondholder notice from bond trustee Norsk Tillitsmann ASA.

Cermaq was seeking approval to redeem the bonds in full at 102% of par plus accrued interest within 10 banking days of the completion of the sale of its EWOS business, which supplies salmon feed and makes up a significant part of the company's assets. If no EWOS transaction is completed, the bond agreement will remain unchanged.

If the redemption proposal had not been approved, the bonds would have remained noncallable.

To approve the proposal, holders of more than two-thirds of the bonds represented at the meeting needed to vote in favor of it. In order to have a quorum, at least half of the bonds needed to be represented at the meeting.

The company previously said that holders of more than two-thirds of the bonds had given preapproval to the proposal and were committed to voting in favor of it at the bondholder meeting.

As already noted, the company said that following the EWOS transaction, it will be a significantly changed company with a primary focus on fish farming. Based on preliminary feedback from credit analysts and benchmarking exercises against industry peers, Cermaq said that its shadow rating following the EWOS transaction is likely to be below the current consensus shadow rating in the BBB rating category.

In addition, the company noted previously that the proposed early redemption price is 1% above the bonds' change-of-control put option price.

Dankse Bank Markets (contact Nicolay Friis at +47 45 211 032 or nfr@danskebank.com) and Handelsbanken (contact Peter Weis at +47 91 339 595 or pewe04@handelsbanken.no) are the company's financial advisers.

Cermaq is a fish farming and fish feed group based in Oslo.

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