- Technology group enters into an additional €1.35 billion credit facility
- Total amount increased as a result of positive response throughout syndication process
- Financial covenants adjusted due to high market volatility
Friedrichshafen, Germany. ZF Friedrichshafen AG has increased its financial headroom with a new €1.35 billion syndicated credit facility. The facility strengthens the company’s liquidity and comes in addition to the existing €3 billion revolving credit facility. The new credit facility is available for a period of twelve months and includes two six-month extension options.
The additional credit facility was secured at the end of April initially from three banks (BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and J.P. Morgan) in the amount of €1.0 billion. In subsequent syndication, which was successfully completed on May 19, other core banks of the company participated, and the credit volume was expanded to a total of €1.35 billion. The credit facility increases the scope of the company’s liquidity. It provides ZF with more financial flexibility to master the current challenges caused by the corona pandemic and to strategically focus on the requirements of next generation mobility in the long term.
In the light of the high market volatility caused by the pandemic, ZF has also agreed with its banking consortium to adjust its financial covenants. The agreed upper limit for the leverage ratio (net debt/adjusted EBITDA) was raised from 4.0x to 5.5x for the next twelve months. With this step, ZF establishes additional headroom and security to cope with the economic impact of the pandemic.