Lauritz.com gets holder OK to restructure SEK 325 million floaters

By Wendy Van Sickle

Columbus, Ohio, Feb. 25 – Lauritz.com A/S said bondholders approved its proposal to restructure its SEK 324,999,625 floating-rate senior secured bonds due June 17, 2019.

The company announced it was proposing the restructuring by way of written procedure on Feb. 9.

The voting deadline was 9 a.m. ET on Feb. 25. The record date was Feb. 11.

Holders of approximately SEK 195 million, or about 61%, of the bonds voted, and holders of about SEK 192 million, or holders of 98.4% of the voting bonds, voted in favor of the proposals, according to company update on Monday.

In order to have a quorum, holders of a minimum of 20% of the bonds had to vote, and two-thirds of voting bonds had to be in favor of the amendments for passage.

“The proposal includes an extension of the term as well as a reduction of the aggregate nominal amount and the interest rate,” as previously announced by the company.

The maturity will be pushed out to Dec. 17, 2024, the principal amount will be reduced to SEK 200 million and the coupon will be amended to a blended rate from a floating rate.

The issuer previously said it was seeking amendments to the bond terms because it lacks the liquidity required for the redemption.

The restructuring is conditioned upon the provision of certain additional securities, including a pledge in Chateau Vignelaure in Provence, the release added.

The proposed amendments included the following:

• Write-down of the principal amount of each bond to SEK 481,927 from SEK 764,705, resulting in a remaining outstanding aggregate principal amount of SEK 199,999,705 (after the cancellation of 10 bonds, nominally SEK 7,647,050, held by the issuer;

• Interest would be changed from a floating rate of Stibor plus 750 basis points to a coupon with a blended rate in which about SEK 70 million principal amount is 7˝% and SEK 130 million principal amount is 4%;

• Add obligation of the issuer to pursue a sale of the shares in lauritz.com Sverige AB, and a right of the holders to carry out the sale, owning 49% of the shares in Stockholms Auktionsverk (but excluding the auction houses in Helsingborg, Malmo and Goteborg);

• Add a special redemption if the shares in Lauritz.com Sverige AB are sold;

• Add scheduled periodical redemptions;

• Delete obligation to fulfill financial covenants; and

• Provide additional security to secure the bonds.

The issuer also asked for waivers under the financial covenants to meet the maintenance test on specific dates as well as for any events of default that may occur.

As part of the proposal, the issuer offered additional security.

The notes were issued in 2014.

Company chairman Bengt Sundstrom said in Monday’s update that he “strongly” believes in the company’s future.

“Lauritz.com [is] about to launch a number of important commercial initiatives to re-establish the convincing growth path that has been our track history from 1999 until 2017,” Sundstrom said.

“Since 2017, we have been finding our new ways around a more competitive, but also growing, market of vintage items. In 2018, we have been stabilizing the development of our core business, and we are positive about the outlook for 2019.

Lauritz.com operates online auction services through its trading platform based in Soborg, Denmark.

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