“The Board of Directors of Safilo Group SpA (” Safilo “), which met today, resolved to call the Extraordinary Shareholders’ Meeting on July 30, 2021 to decide on the proposed share capital increase against payment, for a value total maximum of Euro 135,000,000.00, including any share premium, which can be split, through the issue of new ordinary shares, to be offered as an option to shareholders pursuant to Article 2441, paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of the Civil Code ( the Capital Increase) “. This is what we read in the press release issued by the company yesterday evening.
“Safilo intends to complete the transaction quickly in the second half of 2021, subject to obtaining the necessary corporate and regulatory approvals.
The Capital Increase is mainly aimed at repaying the existing Shareholder Loan of the original Euro 90
million, in addition to the relative amount of accrued interest, granted to Safilo in two tranches during 2020 by
Multibrands Italy BV (“Multibrands”), a company controlled by HAL Holding NV (“HAL”) and reference shareholder of
Safilo, to support the timely conclusion of the acquisitions of Blenders Eyewear and Privé Goods. With the Increase
of Capital and the related reimbursement of the Shareholder Loan therefore fulfills the objective of supporting the two transactions
perfected in the year of the pandemic mainly through the strengthening of equity capital. The repayment of the Shareholder Loan with respect to its maturity, set at 31 December 2026, will allow the Group a substantial saving in financial charges for interest expense, now equal to 9% for each year of residual duration of the loan. At 30 June 2021, the amount of the principal loan becomes approx. Euro 96.5 million (Euro 93.5 million at 31 December 2020), including capitalized interest for the period. The residual part of the proceeds from the Capital Increase, net of transaction costs, is aimed at further strengthening the Group’s capital structure, supporting its investments and future growth drivers, including new opportunities that may be available in the sector “.
Thus Angelo Trocchia, Safilo’s Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“We operate in a healthy and growing industry that offers many opportunities that are still under-exploited and rapidly evolving. In 2020, also thanks to the Shareholder Loan made available by Multibrands, we were able to quickly finalize two important acquisitions for our Group, which effectively supported us in the path of recovering a solid and lasting economic and financial profile. Now is the right time for us to repay this loan and close a chapter to seize new opportunities. Taking into account the business trend and the market situation, we believe that there are the right conditions for this capital increase, through which we have the opportunity, on the one hand, to pursue with determination the now consolidated process of cost reduction. , considerably limiting the disbursement of financial charges for the next five years and, on the other hand, fueling our growth strategy with additional resources and new strength ”.