Wednesday,
CELL C RECAPITALISATION: BOND PROCESS LAUNCHED
25 May 2022 - Blue Label Telecoms (JSE:BLU), today announced the next step in the recapitalisation of mobile operator, Cell C. This involves a bond process to get approval of the compromise offer that has been made to those secured lenders, who formerly held publicly listed bonds or notes.
The bond holders will be required to legally indicate their consent to the offer - of 20c for every R1 of debt - by means of a vote. A majority of at least 75% of the vote in favour of the offer is necessary for it to be implemented.
The listed bonds or notes (U.S.$184,002,000) is a portion of Cell C's overall debt of c.ZAR 7.3 billion owed to secured lenders. The bond process launched today,
Thursday 25 May, and a meeting of the Noteholders will be held on 20 June 2022 where the compromise offer will be tabled for a vote.
"The restructuring and refinancing of Cell C has been a long and complicated process. We are pleased to be closer to concluding a transaction that will deleverage the balance sheet and provide the required working capital to operate and grow the business," says Douglas Craigie Stevenson, Cell C CEO.
"We have a clear business strategy and have right sized and streamlined the business to ensure operational efficiency. Our network model will reduce network expenses and capital expenditure, allowing the company to access best-in-class infrastructure, benefiting from scale and offering customers a quality network equivalent to bigger competitors. We look forward to having greater capacity to ensure strategic growth opportunities to create a sustainable organisation.
Cell C is a leading mobile provider in South Africa offering a wide range of products and services, including voice, data, device and SIM deals to more than 20 million customers.
