Melia Hotels International today informed to the National Securities Market Commission that the company has received 41 applications for conversion of Notes as of yesterday’s date, December 4,2014, which represents 85.28% of total issuance, pending confirmation of the total orders received.
Conversion requests will be acted upon with existing treasury shares and with newly-issued shares, in such imports as will be later disclosed, all pursuant to the Terms and Conditions of the Issue. At the time of issuance, the convertible market offered the possibility to diversify Meliá Hotels International’s funding sources, and emission accounted for additional liquidity at a time of tight credit.
The conversion’s impact on the reduction of the Group’s net debt will be approximately of 170.5 m€, resulting in a financial strengthening that the Company expects to complement within the current year with the sale of assets by a minimum of 100 and 125 million euros, as pointed repeatedly by Meliá. The significant improvement of the balance was undoubtedly the main challenge faced by Meliá in 2014, a year in which there has been a very positive development of its hotel business and of all operating margins, and proves that the Company is strengthened after a few years of crisis, with a business model more oriented to management, and diversified and more competitive portfolio structure.
The wide acceptance of the conversion offer accredits market confidence in Meliá Hotels International, and the overall balance of the transaction is, according to Gabriel Escarrer, Vice Chairman and CEO of Meliá, unbeatable: “The 2009 bond issue has not only met the expectations of our investors, who have seen the value of their investment is consolidated, but has given us the optimal financial support during the most difficult years after the crisis began in 2008″.
