Marathon Asset Management today announced the closing of a $100 million senior secured bonds financing to Foraco International SA, a leading global provider of mineral drilling services. Proceeds from the financing repaid existing indebtedness and provided additional liquidity and growth capital as the Company executes on its long-term business plan. The transaction also enabled Foraco to materially reduce its net debt outstanding.
Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Marseille France, Foraco provides turnkey solutions for mining, energy, water, and infrastructure projects, and is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX:FAR). The Company has grown into the 3rd largest global drilling enterprise with operations in 22 countries across five continents.
Michael Alexander, Managing Director in Marathon Asset Management’s Capital Solutions Group, commented: “We are confident that Foraco is well positioned to deliver critical drilling services to its customers and capitalize on many exciting growth prospects in the years to come across a number of different commodities. Foraco’s business showed its resilience during the COVID downturn, and we believe it is now well positioned for growth. Marathon welcomes this partnership with Foraco and its management team.”
Foraco Co-CEO Daniel Simoncini commented: “Coupled with the current favourable market conditions, our improved capital structure gives us ample capacity to pursue accretive growth strategies and continue building upon the high-quality service offering which we have constantly improved over the past decades. We are particularly proud to have delivered value to our shareholders through this transaction, and we renew our gratitude to our dedicated Foraco teams.”
Foraco Co-CEO and CFO Jean-Pierre Charmensat added: “The consummation of the early redemption of its outstanding bonds is a significant step forward for Foraco. The transaction is accretive for the Company’s shareholders. It is the culmination of meticulous and focused hard work over the past few years to reshape and de-risk the Company’s balance sheet and enhance equity value. As previously mentioned, the Company’s debt profile will be significantly improved, financial constraints will be eased, and debt maturities will be extended through the end of 2025.”
About Marathon Asset Management LP
Marathon Asset Management LP is a global credit manager with $22 billion in assets under management. The firm was formed in 1998 by Chairman & CEO Bruce Richards and CIO Louis Hanover and now has 160 employees across offices in New York City, London and Tokyo. Marathon’s core competency is opportunistic investing in the global corporate, emerging market and structured credit markets. Its Capital Solutions platform specializes in designing bespoke private credit transactions to companies in transition and seeks to invest $50 million to $500 million per transaction. Marathon provides partnership capital to sponsors and management teams primarily in the form of senior secured unitranche loans, junior lien debt, mezzanine debt, convertible bonds and preferred equity. For additional information, please visit www.marathonfund.com.
About Foraco
Foraco International SA (TSX:FAR) is a global leading drilling services company that provides turnkey solutions for mining, energy, water and infrastructure projects. Supported by its founding values of integrity, innovation and involvement, Foraco has grown into the 3rd largest global drilling enterprise with operations in 22 countries across five continents. For more information about Foraco, visit www.foraco.com.
