Ulker Biskuvi Sanayi : Turkish owner of Godiva chocolate signs $5.5 billion debt refinance deal, CFO says
May 09, 2018 at 07:06 am EDT
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ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Yildiz Holding, the Turkish food giant that owns Godiva chocolate, has signed a deal with its banks to refinance $5.5 billion (4.05 billion pounds) in debt, its chief financial officer said on Wednesday.
Mustafa Tercan told broadcaster Bloomberg HT that Yildiz had agreed to an eight-year loan and offered some of its assets as collateral. He declined to say which assets.
Sources said last month that Yildiz was in talks to restructure $6.5 billion of its $8.5 billion in debt.
Investors have been increasingly concerned about Turkish firms' ability to service foreign currency-denominated debt. Chronic weakness in the lira - the currency has lost some 13 percent against the dollar this year - has driven up the cost of debt repayment.
Yildiz also owns McVitie's biscuits and Istanbul-listed biscuit maker Ulker.
(Reporting by Ceyda Caglayan; Writing by Ezgi Erkoyun; Editing by David Dolan)
Ulker Biskuvi Sanayi AS, formerly Ulker Gida Sanayi ve Ticaret AS, is a Turkey-based food manufacturer, specializing in cookies, crackers, chocolate covered cookies and wafers. The Company offers products under such brand names, Potibor, Cizi, Krispi, Haylayf, Mavi Yesil, Hanimeller, Bebe Biscuits, Biskrem, Krim Kraker, Probis, Cokoprens, As Kraker, Basak, Ikram and Canpare, among many others. Ulker Biskuvi Sanayi AS 's products are mainly exported to the Middle East, Russia and Central Asian Republics, as well as to Europe. The Companyâs subsidiaries include Istanbul Gida Dis Ticaret AS, Atlas Gida Pazarlama Sanayi ve Ticaret AS, Birlesik Dis Ticaret AS, Ulker Cikolata Sanayi AS, Reform Gida Pazarlama Sanayi ve Ticaret AS and Sabourne Investments Ltd.
ÜLKER BISKÜVI SANAYI 
