ARMAS up for sale

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Noticias:

JP Morgan and the funds that own Naviera Armas commission the sale of the company.

The creditor funds, which saved Naviera Armas from bankruptcy last April, envision a sale of the company. They have Houlihan Lokey, the company's advisor in the restructuring, as the bank in charge of piloting this process. And two possible investors, Grimaldi and Balearia, according to financial sources indicated by the specialized newspaper 5 days of El País.



The investors led by JP Morgan, Barings, Cheney Capital, Bain Capital and Tresidor have agreed to substantially reduce the liabilities of the Canarian shipping company, by moving the company's debt from €445.9 million to €178 million thanks to a debt recapitalization and equity conversion process. They have agreed to postpone maturities to 2026 and inject up to €73.3 million into the group to cover its liquidity needs while this refinancing is closed.



In this way they have taken 94% of the capital. They have left the founders, the Armas family, with 6%. And they have imposed a transitory direction, with Sergio Vélez, mananing director of FTI, as CEO.



Even before the sale starts, there are already two clear candidates, who sounded out an operation at the end of last year. The first is Balearia, whose president, Adolfo Utor, already said in an interview with CincoDías that his intention was to take over his rival. The idea is to create a large Spanish maritime transport group, capable of facing its competitors, Grimaldi and MSC Cruises.



The Italians are the other big contenders. In 2021 they agreed to buy the routes of Naviera Armas in the Balearic Islands, part of Transmediterránea, a company that the Canary Islands bought from Acciona in 2018 for 420 million. The market is also speculating that they will now launch for the rest of the company.

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Noticias:

Parked the sale of Naviera Armas until it comes afloat.

JP Morgan, Barings, Cheney Capital, Bain Capital and Tresidor consider that it is more profitable to refloat the company before formalizing a sale to any company



Naviera Armas will not be sold until its maximum shareholders manage to capitalize the entire debt. This has been announced by its majority funds, which are waiting for the "yes" of the bank to start the process of reconversion of the red numbers.



According to preferente.com, JP Morgan, Barings, Cheney Capital, Bain Capital and Tresidor consider that it is more profitable to refloat the company before formalizing a sale to any company. The next step will be to clean up the 67 million that the company owes to Santander, Caixabank and Sabadell, something that at the moment will not occur until at least the month of September.



This agreement would be added to the one that Armas already closed at the end of April to refinance another part of its debt. It was carried out through bonds issued for a value of 445.9 million that were converted into shares.



With this new movement, it is intended to improve the solvency of the shipping company, and increase its rating. They also seek to optimize the service, as well as increase traffic and ship occupancy to get closer to their competitors. To this is added a fleet renewal in the Canary Islands, Gibraltar, and in its freight transport subsidiary, Hermes.



At the moment, the funds are "open to all possibilities" of sale. Some rumors claim that he has put Houlihan Loke bank to work in the search for potential buyers. A priori, they believe that the sale should be simple, due to the shortage of maritime operators in a market dominated only by Balearia or Grimaldi.



It should be remembered that the company's shareholders are mainly composed of JP Morgan, Barings, Cheney Capital, Bain Capital and Tresidor (94% of the capital), these being the main creditors. The Armas family has only 6% left.