Positioning for post-COVID future – Completion of Restructuring Plan

ZURICH Glattbrugg, 30 April 2021

gategroup Holding AG (“gategroup”, the “Company” and together with its subsidiaries, the “Group”), is pleased to announce that all conditions to the Group’s financial restructuring designed to position the Group for a post-COVID future have been satisfied and that completion of the restructuring has occurred.

Background

As announced on 26 November 2020, the Group, its shareholders RRJ Capital and Temasek (the "Shareholders") and all of the Group’s bank lenders under the senior facilities agreement dated 30 November 2018 (the "Senior Lenders" and the "SFA", respectively) had agreed to the key terms and conditions of a recapitalisation of the Company and amendment of the terms of the Group’s financial indebtedness (the “Transaction”).

On 11 December 2020, the Company and gategroup Finance (Luxembourg) S.A. (the "Issuer"), as issuer of the CHF 350,000,000 3% bonds due 2022 (the "Bonds"), announced that, in order to implement certain aspects of the Transaction, gategroup Guarantee Limited (the "Plan Company"), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, had issued a practice statement letter to holders of the Bonds (the "Bondholders") and the Senior Lenders, formally notifying them of the Plan Company's intention to launch an English restructuring plan under Part 26A of the United Kingdom's Companies Act 2006 (the "Plan") which will, amongst other things, amend certain terms of the Bonds and the SFA.

On 19 March 2021, the terms of the Plan were unanimously approved by the Senior Lenders at a meeting of the Senior Lenders, and by 99.98% by value of those Bondholders present and voting at the meeting of Bondholders.

The English Court approved the Plan on 26 March 2021, and the Company is pleased to announce the satisfaction of all conditions to the effectiveness of the Plan and that completion of the Transaction has occurred.

Conclusion of Financial Restructuring

Today's announcement completes the Group's financial restructuring process which commenced in October 2020.  gategroup CEO Xavier Rossinyol said “I would like to thank our Shareholders, Senior Lenders and Bondholders for their support throughout this process and trust placed in the Company.  The restructuring completed today provides a firm foundation for gategroup’s immediate and long-term future.  The new financial structure will allow us to deliver on our business plan over the next five years, which will benefit all the Group's stakeholders including, Bondholders, Senior Lenders, Shareholders, our customers, suppliers and our employees and their families. We are on track to a successful future and positioned to emerge even stronger”.

 

Media inquiries
+41 44 533 70 00
invest@gategroup.com

 

About gategroup
gategroup is the global leader in airline catering, retail-on-board and hospitality products and services. gategroup provides passengers with superior culinary and retail experiences, leveraging innovation and advanced technology solutions. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, gategroup delivers operational excellence through the most extensive catering network in the aviation industry, serving more than 700 million passengers annually from over 200 operating units in over 60 countries/territories across all continents. In 2019, gategroup reached CHF 4.9 billion in revenues generated by approximately 43,000 employees worldwide. For further information, please visit www.gategroup.com

 

Forward-Looking Statements    
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