Printing ink maker Flint nears debt deal ahead of planned sale -sources
By Arno Schuetze
FRANKFURT, May 27 (Reuters) - The world's second-largest printing ink maker, Flint Group, is nearing a debt deal seen as a pre-condition to proceed with a sales process that its owners launched last year, people close to the matter said.
Flint Group has seen its supply chains affected and sales decrease during the coronavirus pandemic and expects its 2020 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization to fall from the 266 million in 2019, the sources said. One source said it may reach 220 million euros this year, while another said to expect a higher figure.
The company, owned by Goldman Sachs' private equity arm and U.S.-based conglomerate Koch Industries, has engaged with its lenders to put its financing on a new footing, the people said.
It is expected to agree a so-called extend and amend deal for its 1.7 billion euros ($1.86 billion) in liabilities within the next two to three weeks, the people said, adding this would likely see an extension of maturities by two years at slightly better terms.
Flint, the global No.2 after Sun Chemical, was put up for sale late in 2019, a process halted by the pandemic.
It could be restarted soon, two of the sources said, while another cautioned that the owners may allow for more time before putting it on the block again.
Flint Group was created by buyout firm CVC through a merger of former units of BASF and Akzo Nobel with U.S.-based Flint Ink and sold to Koch and Goldman in 2014 at a valuation of more than 2.2 billion euros.
The Luxembourg-based group makes the bulk of its profit in the packaging industry, while inks for the printing industry account for the rest.
The two units may eventually be sold to different buyers, one of the people said, adding the businesses are expected to appeal to peers as well as private equity groups.
Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan are advising the Flint owners on the situation, the people said.
The banks declined to comment, while Koch was not available for comment.
($1 = 0.9140 euros) (Reporting by Arno Schuetze Editing by Michelle Martin and David Evans)
