Amaya announces re-financing arrangements
News on 30 Jul 2015
News on 30 Jul 2015
The Montreal-based online gambling group Amaya Inc., has announced a planned debt refinancing initiative designed to reduce its debt burden.
“Amaya intends to refinance certain of its outstanding long-term indebtedness which it incurred to partially finance the August 1, 2014 acquisition of the PokerStars and Full Tilt businesses,” a company statement advises.
“The Corporation expects the refinancing to include, among other things, the repayment of approximately US$575 million of its currently outstanding US$800 million second lien term loan.”
Amaya will fund the repayment through the combination of an approximately US$400 million incremental first lien term loan and approximately US$195 million in cash, including cash on the balance sheet as well as from the anticipated net proceeds from the previously announced sale of the Chartwell and Cryptologic businesses to NYX Gaming Group Limited .
A spokesman said that such a refinancing will reduce debt service costs, including interest costs, and will thereby strengthen Amaya’s cash flow generation, liquidity and leverage profile.
Amaya has engaged Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc., Barclays Bank PLC, Goldman Sachs Lending Partners LLC and Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc. to act as the Joint-Lead Arrangers and Joint Bookrunners for the refinancing, which it hopes to complete before the end of the third quarter 2015.
Amaya took the opportunity to additionally release details of its expectations for financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2015.
The Corporation anticipates revenues in the range of Cdn$314-318 million based on an average US$ to C$ exchange rate of 1.2297 for the second quarter of 2015, or Cdn$323-326 based on a US$ to C$ exchange rate of 1.26, which is the rate used in the Corporation’s previously announced full year financial guidance.
Revenues are net of approximately US$6 million in value added taxes introduced in certain European Union jurisdictions in 2015.
The Corporation also anticipates Adjusted EBITDA of Cdn$135-139 million based on the Q2 FX Rate, or Cdn$139-142. Adjusted EBITDA is net of approximately US$10 million in VAT and recently introduced gaming duties, including point of consumption taxes introduced in the United Kingdom in December 2014.
These financial expectations are for Amaya’s B2C business, primarily comprising the online gaming brands PokerStars and Full Tilt, and exclude contributions from Amaya’s B2B businesses, which were or will be classified as discontinued operations, and their assets and liabilities as held for sale, in 2015.
These include Cadillac Jack, Inc. (now owned by AGS), Diamond Game Enterprises (now a majority owned subsidiary of Innova Gaming Group Inc.), Chartwell and Cryptologic (to be owned by NYX).
“The financial results for the second quarter of 2015 reflect year-over-year revenue growth from Amaya’s core poker business on a constant currency basis, as well as growth from Amaya’s emerging online casino vertical which represented approximately 12 percent of the anticipated revenues,” the company’s statement reveals.
“Revenues from online casino almost doubled relative to the first quarter of 2015. Amaya’s online sportsbook was in beta form in limited jurisdictions during the second quarter of 2015 and therefore contributed negligible revenues.
“At June 30, 2015, PokerStars and Full Tilt had cumulative play-money and real-money customer registrations of more than 95 million. Total registrations grew by approximately 1.9 million during the quarter.”
