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Eurotorg LLC announces pricing of USD 350 million debut loan participation notes
Minsk, 19 October 2017 - Eurotorg LLC announces that Bonitron Designated Activity Company has successfully priced USD 350 million aggregate principal amount of loan participation notes with an annual coupon rate of 8.75% per annum maturing on 30 October 2022 (the "Notes"). The Notes will be issued by, with limited recourse to, Bonitron Designated Activity Company for the sole purpose of financing a loan to Eurotorg LLC. The Notes are expected to be rated B- by Fitch and B- by Standard & Poors. The closing and settlement are expected to be completed on 30 October 2017.
The issue of the Notes is the first ever Eurobond placement by a Belarusian corporate issuer. Eurotorg LLC intends to use the proceeds of the transaction primarily to refinance existing debt, and for general corporate purposes.
Andrei Zubkou, CEO of Eurotorg LLC, said: "Our debut offering was very well received by investors, which reflects the strength of our business and its potential for further growth going forward. We saw significant demand from a broad range of high-quality investors from Asia, Europe, the United States and Russia, and the order book was several times oversubscribed. Thanks to this diversified demand, we were able to significantly reduce the coupon from our initial guidance.
"We are pleased to have been able to capitalise on the opportunity established by Belarus's successful sovereign Eurobond this summer. By becoming the first corporate issuer from our country to access international capital markets, we have established a precedent and benchmark for others to follow. We believe that this opens the market for more high quality Belarusian issuers, and will make a positive contribution to the development of the country's investment environment and economy as a whole."
About Eurotorg group
Eurotorg group ("Group") is the largest food retailer in Belarus by food retail revenue with an operating presence in 97 of the 129 territorial units of Belarus.
The Group operates 460 stores of five different formats ranging in size from E mini and E+ convenience stores to E++ supermarkets and E+++ and E++++ hypermarkets. The Group's strategy based on offering a focused assortment of high turnover products at market low prices delivers a value proposition that is well-tuned to the needs of Belarusian consumers.
In 2016, the Group had revenue, interest and commission income of BYN 3.64 billion (USD 1.83 billion based on the average National Bank of Belarus exchange rate for 2016). The Company has produced IFRS financial statements since 2008.
The Group's senior management team has extensive experience and deep knowledge of the Belarusian retail market. The ultimate owners of Eurotorg LLC are its founders, Uladzimir Vasilko (49.75%) and Sergey Litvin (49.75%), and Chief Executive Officer Andrei Zubkou (0.50%).
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