SVL shareholder Zodiac to refinance US$8m in debt
Published:Friday | May 21, 2021 | 12:11 AM
Zodiac Caribbean Ventures, the largest shareholder in gaming and lottery company Supreme Ventures Limited, is floating a US$8 million ($1.25 billion) bond in mid-June to refinance existing debt.
“They have a bond which matures June 30 of this year and they are refinancing it,” said Gary Peart, CEO of Mayberry Investments Limited, which is acting as lead arranger for the offer. Peart is also executive chairman of SVL.
The placement is being offered to accredited Jamaican and Caribbean investors at a fixed rate coupon of 7.75 per cent fixed rate. The bond, which will mature in 2022, will be secured with 102 million SVL shares valued at about $2 billion.
Zodiac holds a 31 per cent stake in SVL, or 807.6 million shares, valued at around $16 billion. The company is controlled by Trinidadians, including Nicholas Mouttet, who sits on SVL’s board.
Zodiac raised funds in 2017 to finance the acquisition of SVL shares from Intralot Caribbean Ventures Limited, a Greek company. Peart said the current placement is not connected to the US$40 million of Zodiac bonds that were issued at interest rates ranging from 6.5 per cent to eight per cent and refinanced two years ago.
That refinancing deal, he added, has saved Zodiac US$5.5 million so far.