• Financial crisis of the company
• Notification of StaRUG proceedings filed with the Restructuring Court
• Extensive measures planned for the restructuring of the EVAN Bond
Valletta, 6 July 2022 – EVAN Group plc, Malta, as issuer of the 6.0% bond 2017/2022 (ISIN: DE000A19L426 / WKN: A19L42) („EVAN Bond“), is experiencing a financial crisis and has today filed a notification of a restructuring project pursuant to the German Company Stabilisation and Restructuring Act (Unternehmensstabilisierungs- und -restrukturierungsgesetz – „StaRUG“) with the Local Court (Amtsgericht) of Düsseldorf („Restructuring Court“) as an essential step for a restructuring of the EVAN Bond. The restructuring options under the provisions of the StaRUG were introduced by the legislator in Germany on 1 January 2021 and allow a company to implement a so-called restructuring plan, which serves the purpose of restructuring, under the supervision of the Restructuring Court.
The financing structure of EVAN Group plc was designed in such a way that well before the maturity of the EVAN Bond on 31 July 2022, all construction projects at the Group’s sub-subsidiaries were to be completed and marketed and the excess proceeds were to be used to repay the EVAN Bond and pay the outstanding interest.
Contrary to the plans, there have been considerable delays in construction. In the construction project in Berlin, payment from a contractually agreed debtor warrant is outstanding. According to the debtor warrant, additional payments will be due, based on the size of the buildable living space, upon the granting of a building permit by the City of Berlin. EVAN Group expected a payment from the debtor warrant well before the maturity of the EVAN Bond. The construction project in Würzburg was burdened by massive construction defects, the elimination of which led both to a considerable delay in completion and to an additional financial burden for the elimination of the defects. These overall circumstances have already required extensive support measures by EVAN Group plc and its subsidiaries.
The completion of the construction project in Frankfurt has been delayed both on the planning and the execution side, and there is a need for refinancing. Only in the case of a successful refinancing will payments flow to EVAN Group plc, which it needs to at least partially repay the EVAN Bond plus interest to the noteholders.
Against this background, a restructuring of the EVAN Bond is necessary. EVAN Group plc therefore intends to use a restructuring plan to structure the claims of the noteholders of the EVAN bond in such a way that the projects can be completed and marketed. From the Company’s perspective, this will allow the Company to avoid insolvency, achieve the highest values for these projects and thus achieve the best outcome for the noteholders. To this end, the draft restructuring plan submitted with the notification to the Restructuring Court provides for the following measures in particular:
• the reduction of the total nominal value of the outstanding EVAN Bond from 22,778,000.00 euros by 15,876,266.00 euros to 6,901,734.00 euros, i.e. a reduction of the nominal value per note of the EVAN Bond from 1,000.00 euros to 303.00 euros;
• a postponement of the maturity of the noteholders‘ interest claims accrued until 30 July 2022 (inclusive), which are not to become due until five months after the restructuring plan has become legally effective;
• the maturity extension of the EVAN Bond until 30 July 2024; and
• the granting of a debtor warrant for the noteholders, which is to be serviced from future cash inflows and is limited in amount to a maximum of 697.00 euros per note of the EVAN Bond.
In addition and independently of this, it is envisaged that the noteholders will be offered, subject to the legal validity of the restructuring plan, the acquisition of the notes held by them within a period of four months from the legal validity of the restructuring plan for a purchase price of 53% of the nominal value (corresponding to 530.00 euros per note).
The Restructuring Court is now expected to convene a noteholders‘ meeting in the near future for the purpose of appointing a joint representative for all noteholders of the EVAN Bond. This meeting is expected to take place at the end of July 2022.
The Restructuring Court will then announce a discussion and voting date at which the restructuring plan shall be voted on.
Contact
EVAN Group plc
T: +49 (0) 69 94 41 80 55 // E: IR@evan-group.com
Press / Investor Relations
Andreas Framke
NewMark Finanzkommunikation GmbH
Walther-von-Cronberg-Platz 16
D-60594 Frankfurt am Main
T: +49 (0) 69 94 41 80 55 // Fax: +49 (0) 69 94 41 80 19
E: IR@evan-group.com