Aristocrat provider applied for a loan
Leading Australian provider Aristocrat Leisure Limited has secured a major loan worth over US$500 million. The public announcement of the intent to borrow was made on May 14. Approval is expected on May 21. The developer plans to take out the loan over a period of four years, with full repayment scheduled for October 2024.
According to the company's representatives, the deal will be a unique way to maintain good balance sheet indicators. The main amount of the loan is intended for the developer's corporate tasks and goals. Today, the company already owes a fairly large amount, exceeding 2 billion dollars. However, for the gambling business, this is significant, so the search for an investor willing to provide half a billion dollars did not take much time.
According to Aristocrat Leisure Limited CFO Julie Cameron-Doe, the upcoming deal is part of a strategy that will preserve liquidity and increase profits in the difficult conditions that arose due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, the crisis did not bypass this gaming software developer. In April, the brand owners were forced to lay off more than 1,000 employees as part of the adopted strategy to combat the consequences of quarantine measures.
In addition, the company's representatives have already announced that dividend payments to shareholders for 2020 will be suspended. This is not surprising, since today this is done in almost all areas of business. Recall that Australia called for an independent investigation into the causes of the pandemic. This initiative was also supported by other countries. The total number of such states is 110, including Russia, Great Britain, Canada and all 27 EU countries.
