PRESS RELEASE
AGREEMENT IN PRINCIPLE ON FINANCIAL
RESTRUCTURING PLAN
€420 MILLION NEW FINANCING AND
DELEVERAGING THROUGH € 660 MILLION DEBT EQUITIZATION
OPENING OF AN ACCELERATED FINANCIAL
SAFEGUARD PROCEDURE
Paris (France), 22
June 2020 – Technicolor (Euronext Paris: TCH;
OTCQX: TCLRY) (the “Company”) announces today that
it has reached an agreement in principle on a financial
restructuring plan (the “Agreement In Principle”),
which meets the Company’s objectives of (i) obtaining a new
financing in an amount of €420 million, addressing the liquidity
needs of the Group and (ii) deleveraging the Company’s balance
sheet, through the equitization of up to €660 million of its Term
Loan B and Revolving Credit Facility. The Company has received the
support of a majority (65,77%1) of its lenders under the Term Loan
B and Revolving Credit Facility and of Bpifrance Participations, an
institutional shareholder.
This Agreement in Principle, whose terms and
conditions are described in more details below, provides a
framework for long-term sustainability for the Company’s
businesses, employees, customers and suppliers, and offers its
current shareholders an opportunity to participate in the Company’s
recovery. Based on the proposed new financing plan, gross debt2 is
to decrease from the current position of €1,444 million to €1,102
million. The net debt to EBITDA target (post IFRS 16 adjustments)
is around 3x at end of 2021, decreasing thereafter.
Furthermore, the Company announces the opening
today of an accelerated financial safeguard procedure, in order to
facilitate the implementation of the Agreement in Principle, by the
Paris commercial Court.
1.
Status of the restructuring process
In February 2020, Technicolor informed the
market of its intention to launch a €300 million rights issue by
June 30th 2020 at the latest, which was authorized by the general
meeting of the Company’s shareholders on March 23rd 2020. Since
then, the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on the business activities
of the Group, and the uncertainty in global market conditions, have
rendered it difficult to launch the initially contemplated rights
issue within the contemplated timeline, and have increased the
liquidity needs of the Group, which were originally intended to be
covered by the rights issue.
In May, the Company launched a confidential
process aiming at raising a new money facility replacing the rights
issue in order to finance the group’s operations and to repay the
$110 million bridge loan due on July 31st.
Technicolor has received offers both from third
parties and from existing creditors, including notably, as
announced in the June 4th press release, an offer from a group of
creditors representing 59% at that time of the Term Loan B and the
Revolving Credit Facility, in the framework of the conciliation
proceedings opened on June 2nd. This proposal addresses both the
Group’s liquidity requirements and the need to deleverage the
Company’s balance sheet, through a combination of a rights issue
(fully backstopped by the Term Loan B and Revolving Credit Facility
lenders by way of set-off of their claims) and a capital increase
reserved to the Term Loan B and Revolving Credit Facility lenders
(subscribed by way of set-off of their claims).
Upon the recommendation of the Comité Ad Hoc
(appointed by the board in the context of the debt restructuring
and composed of a majority of independent directors) and given the
potential significant dilution implied by such capital increases,
the Board of Directors decided on June 5th to appoint, on a
voluntary basis, Finexsi (g.windsor@finexsi.com / 01 43 18 42 42),
as independent appraiser, in accordance with article 261-3 of the
AMF General Regulation. Finexsi will, in particular, issue a
fairness opinion on the proposed capital increases.
On June 11th, the Company announced the
launching of a waiver consent solicitation of its existing lenders
under its Credit Facilities, in order to allow the Company to have
the option to request (i) the opening in France of a “procédure de
sauvegarde financière accélérée” (which is a form of pre-negotiated
safeguard procedure with financial creditors only)
(“SFA”) on Technicolor SA and (ii) the recognition
of the SFA in the US, in accordance with applicable regulations
(the “Recognition Procedure”),
without such actions constituting an event of default under the
Credit Facilities.
After having received waiver consents from the
requisite majority of its lenders, the Company therefore decided on
June 18th to file a request for the opening in France of an SFA,
with the Recognition Procedure to be filed shortly after the SFA
has been opened. The SFA was effectively opened today.
The SFA allows for the implementation of the
transaction with only a 2/3 majority of impacted lenders under the
Credit Facilities. As of today, lenders representing 65,77% of the
principal amount of the Term Loan B and Revolving Credit Facility,
as well as Bpifrance Participations, an institutional shareholder
holding c. 7.5% of the share capital (the “Ad Hoc
Group”), support the Agreement in Principle, setting out
the terms and conditions of the debt restructuring of the Group, as
further detailed below.
Technicolor intends to implement the debt
restructuring provided for by the Agreement in Principle in the
framework of an SFA plan which remains subject to conditions
precedent as further detailed below, in particular to a favorable
vote by an extraordinary shareholders' meeting of the Company (the
"EGM") on certain aspects of the SFA plan, and to
French court approval.
2.
Key Transaction Principles
The Agreement in Principle sets forth the
following key principles (the
“Restructuring”):
- New money in an aggregate principal amount, net of Original
Issue Discount (“O.I.D.”) and underwriting fees, equal to € 420
million, to be made available, subject to the satisfaction of
certain conditions precedent, to Technicolor’s Affiliates by (i)
any lenders under the TLB and the RCF who wish to participate, in
an amount of €400 million (fully underwritten by the Ad Hoc Group
excluding Bpifrance Participations) and (ii) by Bpifrance
Participations in an amount of €20 million (the "New Money
Lenders"), as follows:
- initial new money to be made available around mid-July to
Technicolor USA, Inc. ("TCH US") (the "US
New Money"), subject to positive vote of the financial
creditors committee, approval of the judge and other conditions, by
way of a New York law term loan facility in order to repay in full
in cash the $110 million bridge loan which was made available to
TCH US on March 5th, 2020 and which is due to be repaid on July
31st 2020 (the "Bridge Loan");
- additional initial new money to be made available on the same
date as the US New Money to Tech 6, a direct subsidiary of the
Company incorporated in France, subject to positive vote of the
financial creditors committee, approval of the judge and other
conditions, by way of a New York law notes issue
(the "Initial FR New Money" and, together
with the US New Money, the "Initial New
Money");
- remaining new money to be made available by the end of August
2020 to Tech 6, subject to among, other conditions, approval of the
SFA plan by the Court (the "Balance FR New
Money" and, together with the Initial New Money, the
"New Money");
- New Money to be secured by “fiducies-sûretés” (equivalent of a
trust under French law) in respect of the shares of sub-holding
companies, holding quasi all (after some corporate reorganization)
of the members of the Group (the "Fiducies"), it
being specified that the implementation of the Fiducie for the
Balance FR New Money will be submitted to a consultative vote of
the EGM, in accordance with the AMF recommendation n°2015-05 on
transfer of assets. The New Money shall also be secured by certain
other security interests, including by security over the assets
currently securing the Bridge Loan (for the US New Money only), the
TLB and the RCF.
- The existing indebtedness of the Group (together, the
“Credit Facilities”) will be restructured, as
follows:
- Bridge Loan would be repaid using the proceeds of the injection
of the US New Money;
- $125 million asset-based loan made available to TCH US on
November 6th 2017 and certain other US members of the Group (the
"ABL Facility") to be amended, in particular to
extend the final maturity date of the loan to December 2023, and to
allow the implementation of all of the transactions contemplated
herein in order to achieve the Restructuring;
- €725 million plus $290 million term loan facility dated
December 6th 2016 (the “Term Loan
B” or "TLB") made available to
the Company to be partially equitized as described below and, in
respect of the reinstated debt, amended as to extend the maturity
to December 2024 with a bullet repayment;
- €250 million revolving credit facility dated December 21st 2016
(the “Revolving Credit Facility” or the
"RCF") made available to the Company (fully drawn
to date) to be partially equitized as described below and, in
respect of the reinstated debt, amended as to extend the maturity
to December 2024 with a bullet repayment.
- The partial equitization of the debt (up to € 660 million) will
be structured as follows, subject in particular to (i) the positive
vote of the EGM on all resolutions relating to the Restructuring
(such resolutions being linked to each other, it being specified
that Bpifrance Participations committed to vote in favor of such
resolutions, subject to legal or regulatory constraints preventing
him from voting, as the case may be) and (ii) approval by the AMF
of a prospectus relating to:
- a rights issue of the Company, with shareholders’ preferential
subscription rights, for a total amount of €330 million, at a
subscription price of €2.98 per share, fully backstopped by the TLB
and RCF lenders by way of set-off of their claims at par under the
Credit Facilities; Bpifrance Participations will subscribe to the
rights issue in cash pro rata its current shareholding (c. 7.5%) on
a non-reductible basis (souscription à titre irréductible) for an
aggregate amount up to €25.5 million; any cash proceeds of the
rights issue will be used in full to repay the TLB and RCF lenders,
at par value;
- a reserved capital increase of the Company, for a total amount
of €330 million, at a subscription price of €3.58 per share,
reserved to the TLB and RCF lenders and which will be fully
subscribed by way of set-off against their claims at par under the
Credit Facilities;
- free warrants to be allocated to the New Money lenders
(“New Money Warrants”), with a 3-month maturity,
with an exercise price of €0.01, equal to the par value of the
shares, and giving access to 7.5% of the share capital of the
Company (after the rights issue, the reserved capital increase and
the exercise of New Money Warrants, but before exercise of the free
warrants by the shareholders);
- free warrants to be allocated to existing shareholders at the
time of the launching of the rights issue, with a 4-year maturity
and a strike price equal to the reserved capital increase price
(i.e. €3.58 per share); the free warrants will give access to 5% of
the share capital of the Company on a fully diluted basis (i.e.,
after the rights issue, the reserved capital increase, the exercise
of New Money Warrants and the exercise of the free shareholders’
warrants). Each existing share will give right to 1 warrant, which
will give right to circa 0.8 new share at a price of 3.58 per
share.
- It should be noted that, should the EGM that will be convened
on July 20th 2020 decide to vote against one of the resolutions
linked to the Restructuring, the SFA plan cannot be approved by the
Court and, in this case, the Company will:
- petition the court to terminate the SFA proceedings,
considering the fact that no SFA plan can be approved; and
- file for rehabilitation proceedings (redressement judiciaire)
in order to implement the debt reorganization as part of a
court-approved rehabilitation plan (plan de continuation), failing
which quasi all of the Company’s assets could be attributed or sold
to the New Money Lenders, with the aim to permit continuation of
the activities conducted by the Group and trading with clients and
suppliers. In this latter case, (i) all employment contracts
entered into by the Company will be maintained, (ii) as will the
Balance FR New Money and (iii) the liabilities of the Company
benefitting from senior legal privileges repaid.
The Agreement in Principle has received the
support of the Board of Directors of the Company. It remains
subject to the finalization of the negotiations of its terms as
well as negotiations of the necessary documents and agreements.
Implementation of the Agreement in Principle
remains subject also to the usual conditions precedent,which
include obtaining the favorable support of impacted lenders under
the Credit Facilities as well as judicial authorizations and
approvals, evidenced at each of the steps of the proceedings. In
essence:
- Concerning the new money made available to the Group:
- the US New Money and the Initial FR New Money, which shall be
made available around mid-July 2020, i.e. during the SFA
proceedings, remain notably subject to the authorization of the
judge supervising the SFA and to the favorable vote of
Technicolor’s financial creditors; and
- the Balance FR New Money shall be funded, among other usual
conditions precedent, after the favourable vote of the EGM convened
on July 20th 2020 and subject to the court’s approval of the
SFA plan.
- The Restructuring of the Term Loan B and the RCF remains
notably subject to (i) the favorable vote of the EGM on the
Restructuring, (ii) the court’s approval of the SFA plan and (iii)
the approval by the AMF of a prospectus relating to the
Restructuring. The reinstatement of a portion of those two credit
facilities, and the equitization of the balance, shall occur upon
settlement and delivery of the rights issue and the reserved
capital increase.
The information contained in this press release
and its appendices and annexes is designed to re-establish, in all
material respects and where necessary, equal access for the various
shareholders and investors to the information relating to the
Group.
3.
Next steps : based on legal timetable
(indicative calendar)
June 22nd |
Opening of the SFA |
June 29th |
Publication of the EGM meeting notice (SFA rules allow a shorter
publication timeline than usual) |
July 3rd |
Financial Creditors Committee votes on the SFA plan (minimum
majority: 2/3 in value) |
July 10th |
Approval of the prospectus by the AMF and availability of the
independent expert report Publication of the EGM convening
notice |
Around Mid July |
First drawdown of the New Money facility for an amount of c. €240
million to repay the Bridge Loan and address the short term
liquidity needs of the Group (subject to a positive vote of the
financial creditors committee, approval of the judge and other
conditions) |
July 20th |
Extraordinary shareholders’ meeting to vote on the capital
increases and the Fiducie implemented for the Balance FR New
Money |
End of July |
Court approval of the SFA plan (subject to financial creditors’
committee favourable vote at a 2/3 majority and favorable EGM
vote) |
End of August |
Second drawdown of the New Money facility for the remainder, i.e. c
€ 180 million (subject to, among other conditions, approval of the
SFA plan or continuation plan by the Court ) Alternatively, if no
SFA Plan (or continuation plan) can be approved by the Court before
end of August, the Balance FR New Money should be made available to
Tech 6 in September, provided quasi all the Group’s assets have
been attributed or sold to the benefit of the lenders as part of a
rehabilitation proceedings. |
September |
If Court approval on the SFA plan is received, launching of the
capital increase and allocation of warrants |
4.
Key business trends
2020-2022 Reforecast
- Early in the second quarter of 2020, the Group established a 3
step process to develop a new 2020-2022 Business Plan which
included:
- A revised forecast for 2020 including an extension of its
Panorama transformation plans;
- Two scenarios, a Base Case and a High Case Business Plan, to
take into account the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 crisis
recovery.
- Some contingencies were included in the Base Case to reflect
this uncertainty, which mainly related to recovery of the
Production Services and DVD services new release activities. The
Group also included contingencies relating to the Connected Home
business, which is nevertheless anticipated to be able to maintain
its initial 2020-2022 plan. These contingencies have been removed
in the High Case.
- The High Case assumes faster reopening of the Production
Services businesses and some larger projects, together with higher
volumes for Connected Home across all business lines.
Continuing operations - post IFRS 16 |
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|
Base Case |
|
High Case |
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€m ; FYE-Dec post-IFRS
16 |
2019a |
|
2020e |
2021e |
2022e |
|
2020e |
2021e |
2022e |
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|
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|
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Revenues |
3,800 |
|
3,118 |
3,476 |
3,632 |
|
3,274 |
3,820 |
4,035 |
% Growth |
|
|
(17.9%) |
+11.5% |
+4.5% |
|
(13.9%) |
+16.7% |
+5.6% |
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|
|
Adj. Continuing
EBITDA |
324 |
|
169 |
340 |
425 |
|
255 |
471 |
578 |
% of revenues |
8.5% |
|
5.4% |
9.8% |
11.7% |
|
7.8% |
12.3% |
14.3% |
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|
Adj. Continuing
EBITA |
42 |
|
(64) |
105 |
202 |
|
20 |
236 |
342 |
% of revenues |
1.1% |
|
(2.1%) |
3.0% |
5.6% |
|
0.6% |
6.2% |
8.5% |
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|
Continuing FCF* |
(26) |
|
(162) |
89 |
259 |
|
(47) |
223 |
402 |
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*
Before financials results and tax |
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- Regardless of COVID-19 impacts in 2020 and early 2021, revenues
under the Base Case are expected to remain flat with growth in Film
& Episodic VFX, Animation & Games, and Broadband, and the
new DVD Services contract structure offsetting volume declines from
DVD and Blu-Ray.
- Adjusted EBITDA is expected to increase to €425 million in 2022
(€578 million under High Case) mainly driven by the cost saving
plans targeting more than €300 million of costs which include the
previously announced €150 million savings from Panorama 1, and a
further €150 million from additional initiatives by 2022.
Operating activities trends
- Connected Home:
- Revenues CAGR 19-22 (Base to High case): nil to +3%;
- Despite early March supply chain disruption due to Covid-19,
the Connected Home division is headed for a good year driven by
strong demand in the US;
- The Group expects stable and resilient revenues over the plan
mostly driven by growth in gateway / broadband that offsets a video
revenues decrease;
- EBITDA is to grow on the back of cost savings and lower
component costs, in line with initial budget expectations.
- DVD Services:
- Revenues CAGR 19-22 (Base to. High case): (10%) to (9%);
- The DVD Services division will be negatively impacted given the
delay in new theatre releases, mitigated by catalogue sales in the
US and Europe which are showing signs of resilience;
- Broadly normal market conditions expected thereafter, but still
negatively impacted by changed consumer behavior (increased
streaming, etc.) and continued structural market decline;
- EBITDA margin to recover on the back of accelerated cost
savings initiatives and contract renewals that include volume-based
pricing principles.
- Production Services:
- Revenues CAGR 19-22 (Base to High case): +3% to +10%;
- Film & Episodic VFX revenues largely impacted by the
cessation of all live-action shoots, pushed back to third / fourth
quarter 2020 and 2021; visual effects cannot be produced until live
shoots are completed:
- Volume of movies under production in 2023 expected to be
similar to what was originally planned for in 2022, with more
weight toward episodic vs. tentpole movies;
- Animation & Games not as severely impacted by the COVID-19
crisis as it is less dependent on live action;
- Advertising expects more resilience to the COVID-19 as it is
less reliant on large crewed, on-location live shoots, and has a
customer base that includes Big Tech companies;
- Post-Production impacted for similar reasons as Film &
Episodic VFX:
- Still handles a larger number of smaller and quicker turnaround
projects and can take on work from clients with whom Film &
Episodic VFX does not typically work at the beginning of live
shooting. This along with Film & Episodic VFX growth should
allow a faster recovery in the second half.
18-month liquidity forecasts to December
2021
- The proposed €420 million new financing has been designed to
cover the Group’s needs in the short / medium term. This new
financing together with cash generation will provide liquidity
flexibility for the Group thereafter.
- By mid-July, the Group is to receive €240 million of net
proceeds from the new financing proposal (subject to the conditions
precedent mentioned above):
- This amount will cover (i) the operational needs over that
period and, (ii) the repayment of the $110 million Bridge Facility
at the end of July.
- In early September, to cover additional operational needs, the
Group is to receive a further €180 million injection as part of the
financing proposal (subject to conditions precedent mentioned
above):
- Following this new financing, the Group expects to have excess
cash of more than €100 million;
- Operational needs early in each month are in line with the
working capital pattern of the Group, as most key vendors payments
are concentrated during the first week of each month.
- In total the €420 million net amount new financing proposal
will cover the Group’s needs over the next 18 months, including
additional needs of circa €100 million in the first half of
2021:
- The cash pattern has historically shown a negative FCF in the
first half vs. a positive FCF over the second half3;
- Overall cash injections are to cover the needs arising in H2
2020 as well as first half 2021.
As of the end of each semester, for the next
four closings, the Group expects the following cash position in the
next 18 months (taking into account the €420 million New
Financing).
in m€ |
|
June 30 2020 |
December 31 2020 |
June 30 2021 |
December 31 2021 |
Group Cash before Credit
Lines (CL) |
(323) |
(311) |
(582) |
(386) |
Available CL as per current
structure4 |
418 |
318 |
318 |
318 |
Liquidity after
Credit Lines |
96 |
7 |
(264) |
(68) |
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|
|
|
|
(+) New financing, net of
O.I.D and underwriting |
0 |
420 |
420 |
420 |
Pro Forma
Liquidity |
96 |
427 |
156 |
352 |
Based on the proposed new financing plan, gross
debt5 is to decrease from current position of € 1,444 million to
€1,102 million. Net debt to EBITDA target (post IFRS 16
adjustments) is around 3x at end of 2021, decreasing
thereafter.
###
An analyst conference call hosted by Richard
Moat, CEO, and Laurent Carozzi, CFO, will be held today, Monday, 22
June 2020 at 5pm CEST.
The presentation slide slow is available on our
website https://www.technicolor.com/Presentation06-22
or http://www.technicolor.com
The trading of the shares on Euronext Paris will
resume tomorrow, June 23rd, 2020, at 9 a.m. CEST.
###
Appendix
Continuing operations - pre IFRS 16 |
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Base Case |
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High Case |
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€m ; FYE-Dec pre-IFRS
16 |
2019a |
|
2020e |
2021e |
2022e |
|
2020e |
2021e |
2022e |
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|
|
Revenues |
3,800 |
|
3,118 |
3,476 |
3,632 |
|
3,274 |
3,820 |
4,035 |
% Growth |
|
|
(17.9%) |
+11.5% |
+4.5% |
|
(13.9%) |
+16.7% |
+5.6% |
|
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Adj. Continuing
EBITDA |
246 |
|
101 |
280 |
372 |
|
187 |
411 |
525 |
% of revenues |
6.5% |
|
3.3% |
8.0% |
10.3% |
|
5.7% |
10.8% |
13.0% |
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|
Adj. Continuing
EBITA |
36 |
|
(71) |
99 |
196 |
|
13 |
230 |
336 |
% of revenues |
0.9% |
|
(2.3%) |
2.9% |
5.4% |
|
0.4% |
6.0% |
8.3% |
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Continuing FCF* |
(90) |
|
(170) |
42 |
219 |
|
(102) |
176 |
362 |
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*
Before financial results and tax |
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###
Warning: Forward Looking
Statements
This press release contains certain statements
that constitute "forward-looking statements", including but not
limited to statements that are predictions of or indicate future
events, trends, plans or objectives, based on certain assumptions
or which do not directly relate to historical or current facts.
Such forward-looking statements are based on management's current
expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from the future results expressed, forecasted or implied by such
forward-looking statements. For a more complete list and
description of such risks and uncertainties, refer to Technicolor’s
filings with the French Autorité des marchés financiers.
###About
Technicolor:
www.technicolor.com
Technicolor shares are on the Euronext
Paris exchange (TCH) and traded in the USA on the OTCQX marketplace
(OTCQX: TCLRY).
Investor Relations
Christophe le Mignan: +33 1 88 24 32 83
Christophe.lemignan@technicolor.com
1 On the basis of an exchange rate (€/$) of 1.1193
2 Before IFRS operating lease debt
3 Unlike previous year, H2 2020 is not expected to be FCF
positive due to Covid-19 impact on the Group activities and working
capital pattern
4 €250m RCF, $125m ABL and up to end of July $110m Bridge
Facility
5 Before IFRS 16 operating lease debt
- 06-22-2020_Cleansing Press Release_VUS