Premiership: Wasps delay bond repayment further
A general view of the stadium ahead of the Gallagher Premiership match at the Coventry Building Society Arena, Coventry. Picture date: Sunday November 7, 2021.
Wasps have added another six weeks to the delay in the redemption of the bonds they sold in order to purchase the Coventry Building Society Arena.
The redemption date for the GBP35m of bonds issued was May 13 this year, but because of business difficulties caused by covid the bonds needed refinancing.
Diligence delay
The initial redemption date was pushed to June 30, but a new statement from the Wasps group has said that the due diligence and documentation for the refinancing is still ongoing and that the new payment date is now to be August 12.
There is some speculation that the Premiership club and its commercial arm is struggling to refinance. A BBC report back in May noted that Wasps had also applied for up to GBP13m of public funding in order to maintain the stadium, the business of which suffered greatly during the pandemic.
The latest update included a new date set for an update at July 29.
“Further to the announcement on 13th May 2022, which stated that the Issuer had agreed, subject to final due diligence and documentation, the terms for the refinancing of the Bonds with a lending group that includes HSBC UK Bank plc (“HSBC”) as senior debt provider; the Issuer is working towards completing this due diligence and documentation,” read the statement.
“The Issuer now expects the refinancing to complete and redemption of the Bonds at their nominal amount to take place on or before 12th August 2022. Bondholders will receive interest accrued for the period from 13th May 2022 until the date of redemption.
“The Issuer will update on progress relating to the refinancing no later than 29th July 2022.”