Pernod Ricard, the wine and spirits company, has refinanced its debt from its acquisition of Absolute Vodka producer Vin & Sprit in 2008 after securing a new Euro2.5bn credit facility.
The company and its 25-strong banking group has signed a five-year multi-currency revolving credit facility, which will be used for “general corporate purposes” as well as for refinancing debt.
Gilles Bogaert, maging director for finance at Pernod Ricard, said: “Following our most recent successful euro and US dollar bond issue, this new syndicated credit facility marks the final step in the refinancing of the debt related to the Vin & Sprit acquisition.
“Thanks to the commitment of a large pool of international banks and to the recent improvement in the bank debt market, we managed to implement this refinancing at attractive conditions and in a flexible manner through a multi-currency revolving facility. Pernod Ricard’s average debt maturity now exceeds seven years.”
