Godiva Owner Said to OK Plan After $7 Billion Refinance Call

(Bloomberg) -- Yildiz Holding AS, the global sweets company owned by Turkey’s richest man, reached an agreement to refinance as much as $7 billion of debt, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Yildiz signed a preliminary accord on Friday with Yapi Kredi, which is representing Yildiz creditors, said four people, who asked not to be identified because the deal hasn’t yet been finalized or made public. An agreement with all of the Yildiz creditor banks could be signed by March 30, one of them said.

The new loan will have a four-year maturity that can be doubled if the outstanding debt falls below a certain threshold, one of the people said. Yildiz will provide full collateral and there will be few interim payments, the person said.

Yildiz Holding, one of Turkey’s largest companies, has been on a global buying spree over the past decade or so, snapping up assets including Belgium’s Godiva Chocolates, the U.K.’s United Biscuits Holdings Plc and DeMet’s Candy Co. in the U.S. Last month, the company requested what would be the largest-ever loan made by Turkish banks to replace its existing facilities. It cited difficulties with a current structure that requires it to make monthly loan repayments that can reach more than $1 billion.

“The expectation in the market was Yildiz Holding and banks would come to an agreement on the refinancing, so this is a step towards that,” said Melis Pocar, an analyst at Istanbul-based Oyak Securities. “News might act as a slightly positive catalyst for Yildiz Group stocks which had under-performed the market."

Yildiz’s snack maker Ulker Biskuvi Sanayi AS fell as much as 1 percent to 21.90 liras in Istanbul. The group’s private equity arm Gozde Girisim Sermayesi rose as much as 1.3 percent to 5.32 liras, while its frozen food producer Kerevitas Gida Sanayii ve Ticaret AS fell as much as 0.8 percent.

Yildiz Holding declined to comment, while Yapi Kredi didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

To contact the reporters on this story: Asli Kandemir in Istanbul at akandemir@bloomberg.net, Ercan Ersoy in Istanbul at eersoy@bloomberg.net, Kerim Karakaya in Istanbul at kkarakaya2@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stefania Bianchi at sbianchi10@bloomberg.net, Ross Larsen, Vernon Wessels

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