SeaWorld weighs then nixes repricing loan after Fitch U.S. downgrade

By Devika Patel

Knoxville, Tenn., Aug. 9 – SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. management considered refinancing a loan in early August and had begun repricing activity just before Fitch downgraded the United States credit rating, which shook the credit markets and made repricing the loan less attractive, so the company is no longer planning to reprice the loan.

“Last week we launched an opportunistic debt repricing on the back of strong credit markets and tightening credit spreads,” chief executive officer Marc Swanson said on the company’s second quarter ended June 30 earnings conference call on Tuesday.

“As you know, right after we launched our repricing activity, Fitch downgraded the U.S. government credit rating which, among other factors, negatively impacted credit markets.

“While we have the ability to reprice our loan to a lower interest cost, it was not at the level where we and our board expect our pricing to be and, as such, we have canceled the opportunistic repricing and plan to wait for a better time and market conditions to reprice our debt,” he said.

As of June 30, total available liquidity was $518.3 million, including $146.7 million of cash and $371.6 million available under SeaWorld’s revolving credit facility.

At quarter-end, the company’s net total leverage ratio was 2.61x, compared to 2.78x as of Dec. 31, 2022.

SeaWorld is an Orlando, Fla.-based theme park and entertainment company.

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