GGRAsia – Sci Games completes financing deals, to save US$69mln/yr

Sci Games completes financing deals, to save US$69mln/yr

Feb 15, 2018 Newsdesk Industry Talk, Latest News

Casino equipment maker and lottery services provider Scientific Games Corp has completed a series of previously announced financing transactions involving, among other items, the placing of a mixture of secured and unsecured notes.

“Including the effect of cross-currency interest rate swap arrangements, the net impact of the financing transactions will be to lower the company’s annual cash interest cost by approximately US$69 million at current rates, while extending maturities of US$2.1 billion of its debt from 2022 out to 2024, 2025 and 2026,” Scientific Games said in a Wednesday release.

In late January, the firm had announced it planned to raise – via a wholly-owned subsidiary – the equivalent of an additional US$1.21 billion approximately, via a mixture of secured and unsecured notes, all via private offering to qualified buyers. That included: an additional US$500 million of its 5.000-percent senior secured notes due 2025; EUR325 million (US$404.8 million) of senior secured notes due 2026; and EUR250 million of senior unsecured notes due 2026.

Scientific Games eventually upsized the offering of senior secured notes to US$900 million from US$500 million.

The financial transactions now concluded also include – according to Scientific Games’ announcement – a US$900 million upsizing and repricing of a term loan “that reduced the applicable interest rate” by 50 basis points; and an increase in the availability under a revolving credit facility to US$620.2 million through October 18, 2018, “with a step-down in availability at that time to US$445.7 million until the extended maturity date on October 18, 2020.”

The group plans to use the net proceeds of the financing transactions to redeem all US$2.1 billion of its outstanding 7.000-percent senior secured notes due 2022; prepay borrowings under its revolving credit facility, including accrued and unpaid interest; and pay related premiums, fees and expenses.