With the support of Marc Coucke and others, Greenyard is raising its capital by 50 million euros. At the same time, the fruit and vegetable giant announced a debt restructuring.
A seat on the Board of Directors
Marc Coucke steps into the capital of Greenyard. Together with Joris Ide, a current shareholder, he will inject 50 million euros into the fruit and vegetable company. The majority of that sum, some 48.5 million euros, comes from Alychlo NV, Coucke’s investment company. Upon completion of the deal, Coucke will own 13.4 per cent of the shares. He will also become a member of Greenyard’s board of directors.
In addition to the capital increase, Greenyard also announced a debt restructuring. The group will refinance its outstanding bank debts and a bond loan of 125 million euros (a combined total of 467.5 million euros) with a guarantee from the Flemish government’s investment fund Gigarant. The new financing agreement has a term of three years, with an option for a one-year extension.
Reducing debt
Through the capital increase, Greenyard is further reducing its debt ratio. The company expects this to be around three times gross operating profit by the end of the financial year, on 31 March. In February, when it presented its latest quarterly results, the company was still expecting a debt ratio of 3.5 by the end of the current financial year.
“We are pleased to see that we can take this important step towards realising our long-term growth ambitions. The stability of our financing, as well as the faith and trust of our investors, create a fruitful basis for our company to continue to improve and meet our expectations”, said co-CEO Hein Deprez in a press release.
