Scout24 AG succeeds in early refinancing of syndicated bank loan fueling activities along its market network strategy

Scout24 AG succeeds in early refinancing of syndicated bank loan fueling activities along its market network strategy

• Comprehensive financing package with a volume of EUR 1.0 billion
• Further improvement of interest conditions with expected annual savings of 2.4 million euros post recent acquisition
• EUR 630 million of undrawn debt for acquisition purposes

Berlin / Munich, 19 July 2018 - Scout24 AG ("Scout24" or "the Group"), a leading operator of digital marketplaces, specialising in the real estate and automotive sectors in Germany and other selected European countries, has refinanced and restructured the existing EUR 370 million syndicated credit facilities, enabling the financing of the recent acquisition of FFG FINANZCHECK Finanzportale GmbH as well as future M&A plans. Scout24 AG has concluded a comprehensive syndicated financing package with a total volume of EUR 1.0 billion and a maximum term of five years with nine renowned European banks led by ABN Amro Bank N.V. and UniCredit Bank AG as joint coordinators and bookrunners and UniCredit Bank AG acting as Facility Agent.

In particular, the financing package consists of a term loan of EUR 300 million, a revolving credit facility of EUR 200 million, which is currently drawn in the amount of EUR 70 million, and a revolving credit facility of 500 million euros for acquisition purposes. The new credit agreement has considerably improved interest conditions, which will be reflected in expected annual savings of EUR 2.4 million after the financing of FINAZCHECK.de. The maturity of the individual financing facilities is five years or, in the case of the acquisition credit facility, three years with two one-year extension options.

The loan is unsecured, with the interest margin being linked to the leverage ratio (ratio of net debt to ordinary operating EBITDA over the last twelve months). With the new credit agreement coming into effect, Scout24 will have a starting interest rate of 1.15% for the term loan and 0.85% and 0.80% for the revolving credit facilities respectively on the basis of a leverage ratio of 2.2:1 at the end of Q1 2018.
Scout24 AG has once again succeeded in significantly improving its financing conditions, reflecting the very good business development of recent years. The costs of refinancing in the 2018 financial year will have a one-off impact of EUR 4.1 million.

"This new loan is another great success in optimising and expanding our financing structure. Especially against the background of the recent acquisition, the early refinancing reflects our economic performance and strength. We have already impressively demonstrated that we can manage shareholder profit participation and debt reduction at the same time and we will perform accordingly in the future," said Christian Gisy, CFO of Scout24 AG.

Noerr LLP advised Scout24 on the refinancing from a legal perspective.
 

About Scout24

With our leading digital marketplaces ImmobilienScout24 in Germany and AutoScout24 across Europe we are inspiring people to make their best decisions on finding a home and a car. Additional services, such as credit information, the brokerage of relocation services or construction and car financing, are bundled in the Scout24 Consumer Services business division. More than 1,200 employees are working on the success of our products and services, putting the consumers' needs first in order to create a connected network for living and mobility. Scout24 is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ISIN: DE000A12DM80, G24). For further information, please visit www.scout24.com, our Corporate Blog and Tech Blog, or follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Investor Relations

Britta Schmidt
Vice President Investor Relations & Controlling
Fon: +49 89 44456 3278
Email: [email protected]
 

Media Relations

Jan Flaskamp
Vice President Communications & Marketing
Fon: +49 30 24301 0721
Email: [email protected]
 

Disclaimer:

All information contained in this document has been carefully prepared. However, no reliance may be placed for any purposes whatsoever on the information contained in this document or on its completeness. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is given by or on behalf of the Company or any of its directors, officers or employees or any other person as to the accuracy or completeness of the information or opinions contained in this document and no liability whatsoever is accepted by the Company or any of its directors, officers or employees nor any other person for any loss howsoever arising, directly or indirectly, from any use of such information or opinions or otherwise arising in connection therewith.

The information contained in this release is subject to amendment, revision and updating. Certain statements, beliefs and opinions in this document are forward-looking, which reflect the Company's or, as appropriate, senior management's current expectations and projections about future events. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and assumptions could adversely affect the outcome and financial effects of the plans and events described herein. Statements contained in this document regarding past trends or activities should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any information contained in this press release (including forward-looking statements), whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this document.

Scout24 also uses alternative performance measures, not defined by IFRS, to describe the Scout24 Group's results of operations. These should not be viewed in isolation but treated as supplementary information. The special items used to calculate some alternative performance measures arise from the integration of acquired businesses, restructuring measures, impairments, gains or losses resulting from divestitures and sales of shareholdings, and other material expenses and income that generally do not arise in conjunction with Scout24's ordinary business activities. Alternative performance measures used by Scout24 are defined in the "Glossary" section of Scout24's Annual Report 2017 which is available at www.scout24.com/financial-reports.

Due to rounding, numbers presented throughout this statement may not add up precisely to the totals indicated, and percentages may not precisely reflect the absolute figures for the same reason.