GVC Holdings shares pop to 11-year high on refinancing deal with Nomura
GVC Holdings' stock popped to an 11-year high today after the gaming group announced it will save €43m (£36m) a year in a refinancing deal.
The online gaming company, which owns Sportingbet and took over Bwin in February, has agreed a €250m loan with Nomura to replace its existing loan with Cerberus Business Finance, less than one year after taking out the loan.
GVC has said it will repay the remaining €386.5m of the original €400m Cerberus loan from existing cash resources.
Read more: GVC Holdings and Betfred place wager on 10-year online deal
The new deal with Nomura is set to save around 12p per share.
Shares rose to a day-high of 664.81p in the early afternoon and were trading up 3.5 per cent to 662.5p at the time of writing.
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The news comes after the announcement yesterday that GVC has moved to the premium segment of the market and is set to join the FTSE 250 at the next review in September.
In a trading update today, GVC also announced its July like-for-like revenues were up 26 per cent following a boost from the Euro 2016 tournament.
Read more: Euro 2016 and Bwin takeover drive growth at GVC Holdings
Chief executive Kenneth Alexander said:
I am delighted that we have delivered on another key objective for 2016. The quality of our lending partner and competitive rate we have secured is a result of the progress already made by the enlarged GVC.
Not only does the refinancing significantly reduce our financing costs but it enables us to drive further shareholder value through investment and paves the way for a return to dividend payments in 2017. We have been pleased to work with Nomura and look forward to working with them in the future.
Jane Anscombe, analyst at Edison Investment Research, said: "GVC's refinancing is a very positive surprise, coming just a day after its move to a premium listing.
"Nomura's two per cent interest rate compares with 12.5 per cent being paid on the Cerberus loan, a big vote of confidence in GVC's progress integrating its transformational Bwin acquisition."