{"id":42745,"date":"2013-07-16T17:57:20","date_gmt":"2013-07-17T00:57:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=42745"},"modified":"2013-07-26T07:32:13","modified_gmt":"2013-07-26T14:32:13","slug":"billabong-inman-out-dakine-sold-debt-refinanced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=42745","title":{"rendered":"Billabong: Inman Out, Altamont In, Dakine Sold"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"billabong_corp-tm.jpg\"<\/a>The list of large changes on the memo<\/a><\/strong> Billabong<\/a><\/strong> released today (July 16, 2013) is almost too long for one headline. That’s probably why they just listed four in order. Refinancing of Syndicated Debt Facilities, Sale Of Dakine, Appointment of New CEO, and New Director Appointments. How’s that for a mouthful?<\/p>\n

Concurrent with signing the Bridge Facility, the Company has entered into binding documentation regarding the sale of DaKine to Altamont for a purchase price of A$70m (\u201cAsset Sale\u201d). The transaction is subject to conditions precedent which are typical for a transaction of this type. The sale is also conditional on the completion of the funding under the Bridge Facility.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In other words, Launa Inman<\/strong> is out as CEO (after a tumultuous 14 months), former Oakley<\/a><\/strong> <\/a>CEO Scott Olivet<\/strong> is in, and Altamont Capital<\/a><\/strong> is now running the show. Thanks to their debt bailout (aka “Bridge Facility”) Altamont also gets to name two people (Altamont co-founders Jesse Rogers<\/strong> and Keoni Schwartz <\/strong>(hello Stanford, Harvard and Princeton)) <\/strong>to the Billabong board of directors. And the best part? They didn’t even have to buy the company. For most of the official details from Billabong, follow the jump or click here to get Jeff Harbaugh’s take<\/a><\/strong> on it all.REFINANCING OF SYNDICATED DEBT FACILITIES
\nSALE OF DAKINE
\nAPPOINTMENT OF NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
\nNEW DIRECTOR APPOINTMENTS<\/p>\n

GOLD COAST, 16 July, 2013: On 9 May 2013, Billabong International Limited (\u201cBillabong\u201d or the \u201cCompany\u201d) announced that it was in discussions with each of Altamont Capital Partners (\u201cAltamont\u201d) and Sycamore Partners regarding proposals presented to the Company for alternative refinancing and asset sale transactions, the proceeds of which would be used to repay in full the Company\u2019s existing syndicated debt facilities (\u201cRefinancing\u201d). Billabong today provides an update in relation to the proposed Refinancing.<\/p>\n

The Company today announces it has entered into agreements with entities advised by Altamont and entities sub-advised by GSO Capital Partners1 (the credit arm of the Blackstone Group, and together with Altamont, the \u201cAltamont Consortium\u201d) which will allow Billabong to immediately repay in full its existing syndicated debt facilities. The Company has also entered into commitment letters with the Altamont Consortium and GE Capital to provide a long term financing package for Billabong. The immediate refinancing will be by way of a bridge financing by the Altamont Consortium of the Company’s existing syndicated debt facilities and the sale of the DaKine brand. The long term financing will be by way of an Altamont Consortium term loan and convertible note, and a revolving credit facility provided by GE Capital. This financing package is intended to provide Billabong with a flexible capital structure to allow it to stabilise the business, address its cost structure, and pursue a strategy to grow the business.<\/p>\n

As a condition precedent to this significant investment by the Altamont Consortium, the Board of Billabong today announces that it intends to appoint Mr. Scott Olivet as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Billabong.<\/p>\n

In order to further adequately reflect Altamont’s significant investment in the Company, Altamont will be permitted to nominate two representatives to the Board of Billabong.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Board believes that the Altamont Consortium\u2019s refinancing, and the changes being announced today, provide the Company with a stable platform and the necessary working capital to continue to address the challenges it faces. We had highlighted the Company’s debt issues previously and it was imperative to deliver a refinancing that retained an opportunity for shareholders to participate in the future of the Company. The Altamont Consortium presented the best available, certain and executable opportunity in these challenging circumstances,\u201d said Billabong Chairman Ian Pollard. \u201cThe transaction reflects the Altamont Consortium\u2019s confidence in the value of Billabong\u2019s brands and our Company\u2019s ability to achieve future profitable growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Refinancing of syndicated debt facilities and asset sale<\/strong>
\nBillabong has entered into binding documentation with the Altamont Consortium in relation to a US$294m (A$325m) bridge loan facility (\u201cBridge Facility\u201d). The Bridge Facility is fully committed and is expected to fund on or around Monday, 22 July 2013. The facility is committed until 31 December 2013, will incur interest of 12.0% per annum and is intended to be refinanced by the long term financing described below.<\/p>\n

Concurrent with signing the Bridge Facility, the Company has entered into binding documentation regarding the sale of DaKine to Altamont for a purchase price of A$70m (\u201cAsset Sale\u201d). The transaction is subject to conditions precedent which are typical for a transaction of this type. The sale is also conditional on the completion of the funding under the Bridge Facility. It is therefore expected that the DaKine transaction will also complete on or around Monday, 22 July 2013.<\/p>\n

Below is a summary of the sources and uses as it relates to the Bridge Facility and Asset Sale transactions.<\/p>\n

1 The entities sub-advised by GSO Capital Partners are FS Investment Corp I and FS Investment Corp II; they are advised by
\nFB Income Advisors, LLC.
\nTransaction sources and uses2
\nSources A$m Uses A$m
\nBridge Facility 325 Syndicated facility 289
\nDaKine asset sale 70 Cash for working capital requirements 106
\nTotal sources A$395m Total uses A$395m
\nAs part of the Bridge Facility and the long term financing described below, Billabong has agreed to issue 84,519,582 options to the Altamont Consortium, amounting to 15% of the fully diluted share capital of the Company (including the options). The options will be exercisable at the election of the Altamont Consortium at a strike price of A$0.50 per share. The options will be granted in multiple tranches, with the first tranche of options (42,259,790) issued today. The balance of the options are to be issued as part of the long term financing described below. The options will expire seven years from the date of grant of each tranche.
\nThe commitment letter executed with the Altamont Consortium for the long term financing is an exclusive commitment. The commitment letter and the commitments it provides terminate on the earlier of closing of an alternate financing (which would result in the payout of the Bridge Facility by parties other than the Altamont Consortium) and 31 December 2013 (the “Termination Date”). The exclusivity period is for the period until the Termination Date.
\nDuring the period of exclusivity, the Company and the Altamont Consortium must use commercially reasonable efforts to pursue the long term financing. If the Company does not use such efforts and completes an alternate financing on or prior to 15 January 2014, any prepayment or repayment of the Bridge Facility utilising such alternate financing is subject to a premium equal to 20.0% of the principal amount of the Bridge Facility. Similarly, if a change of control occurs before 15 January 2014, and as a result the Bridge Facility is repaid on or before 31 December 2013, such repayment will be subject to a premium equal to 20.0% of the principal amount of the Bridge Facility.<\/p>\n

Long term financing<\/strong>
\nAs noted above, the intended long term financing is to be by way of an Altamont Consortium term loan and convertible note, and a revolving credit facility provided by GE Capital.
\nBillabong has signed a commitment letter with the Altamont Consortium for a term loan of US$254m (A$281m) (\u201cTerm Loan\u201d), made up of a base commitment of US$200m (A$221m) and an upsize commitment of US$54m (A$60m). Proceeds of the Term Loan are to be used to repay the Bridge Facility referred to above. Interest payable on the US$200m base commitment will be 12.0% per annum, payable quarterly, of which not less than 7.0% must be payable in cash and up to 5.0% may be paid in kind (\u201cPIK\u201d). Interest payable on the US$54m upsize commitment will be 10.0% per annum, payable quarterly in cash. The Term Loan will have a single financial covenant (in respect of leverage) which will first be tested on 31 December 2014. This is intended to give the Company sufficient flexibility to continue implementing its turnaround strategy.<\/p>\n

In addition to the Term Loan, Billabong has also signed a commitment letter to issue a US$40m (A$44m) convertible note to the Altamont Consortium (\u201cConvertible Note\u201d). Subject to shareholder approval (described below), the Convertible Note can convert into Redeemable Preference Shares (\u201cRPS\u201d). The interest rate applicable to the Convertible Note will be 12.0% per annum, payable quarterly, of which not less than 7.0% must be paid in cash and up to 5.0% may be PIK interest; however initially and until obtaining shareholder approval for the issue of the RPS and a portion of the options as described below, the interest rate will be 35.0% per annum, payable quarterly, of which not less than 10.0% must be paid in cash and up to 25.0% may be PIK interest. As a result, the Company will seek to obtain shareholder approval as soon as possible for the issue of the RPS and such portion of the options.<\/p>\n

The RPS will convert to fully paid ordinary shares in the Company at a strike price of approximately US$0.213 (A$0.235) per share, representing 25% of the fully diluted shares outstanding (including options and the RPS). The dividend rate applicable to the RPS will be 12.0% per annum, payable quarterly, of which not less than 9.0% must be paid in cash and up to 3.0% may be paid in ordinary shares.<\/p>\n

Excluding fees and expenses.
\nIf shareholder approval is obtained before completion of the Term Loan, at the option of the Company, RPS can be issued in lieu of the Convertible Note. If shareholder approval is obtained after completion of the Term Loan, the Convertible Note may be converted to RPS at the option of the Altamont Consortium. A summary of the key economic terms of the Convertible Note \/ RPS is provided in Annexure A.<\/p>\n

Billabong has also agreed to issue the balance of the options to the Altamont Consortium as part of the long term financing. It is expected that 29,581,854 options will be granted on completion of the Term Loan, with the balance of 12,677,938 options issued upon obtaining shareholder approval.<\/p>\n

The number of options to be granted (and therefore subject to shareholder approval) will be appropriately adjusted for any primary issuance of ordinary shares to Mr. Olivet (see further below) to reflect the same ownership percentages shown in Annexure A.<\/p>\n

If the Altamont Consortium exercises the options (for cash proceeds of A$42.3 million) and converts the RPS into ordinary shares, the Altamont Consortium\u2019s potential future ownership in Billabong equity could be between 36.25% and 40.49%3. As a result, the options which exceed the issue limits under the ASX Listing Rules and all the RPS will be subject to shareholder approval under the Listing Rules, and the acquisition of shares upon exercise of those options or conversion of the RPS will be subject to shareholder approval under takeover rules. It is intended that Billabong will hold a general meeting to seek such approvals as soon as practicable, expected to be in the next three
\nmonths.<\/p>\n

Billabong has also signed a commitment with GE Capital for an asset-based multicurrency revolving
\ncredit facility of up to US$160m (A$177m) (\u201cRevolving Facility\u201d), subject to holding sufficient eligible
\naccounts receivable and inventory as collateral.<\/p>\n

Management and Board changes<\/strong>
\nBillabong also announces its intention to appoint Mr. Scott Olivet as Managing Director and CEO of
\nBillabong. Scott is a highly experienced and well regarded action sports executive. He was formerly
\nChairman and CEO of Oakley, Inc. and prior to that served as the Vice President, Nike Subsidiaries
\nand New Business Development where he led the portfolio of non-Nike brands, including Converse
\nand Hurley, both of which reported to him. While at Oakley, Scott drove 14% compound annual
\ngrowth in EBITDA and delivered an annualised return to shareholders of 28% until its ultimate
\nacquisition by Luxottica. Most recently, he served as Chairman of Collective Brands where he led
\nthe company’s strategic review and ultimate split\/sale of the business. Scott currently serves on the
\nboard of Skullcandy, an action sports based electronics and lifestyle company. Scott received a
\nMasters in Business Administration from Stanford University Graduate School of Business and a
\nB.A., Government from Pomona College.<\/p>\n

As part of his commitment to the Company, Scott has stated that he intends to purchase 11m
\nordinary shares in the Company with the option, at his election, to purchase an additional 4m shares
\n(up to 15m ordinary shares in total). Such purchases will occur on or before the close of business on
\nFriday, 26 July 2013 and before the appointment to his role. Mr. Olivet may satisfy these purchases,
\nat his option, by either purchasing shares on the open market or by subscribing for newly issued
\nshares from the Company at A$0.23 per share. At $0.23 per share, Scott\u2019s total obligation to
\npurchase shares would be A$2.53 million.<\/p>\n

As a result of the appointment of Scott Olivet, Launa Inman will step down from her role as Chief
\nExecutive Officer and as a director of the Company. The Company is working with Scott to finalise
\nthe terms of appointment to reflect his global experience and a US private equity style package.
\nSuch terms will be announced with the finalisation of the transition from Launa to Scott.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Board wishes to thank Launa for her contributions to the Company and her resilience during the
\nmost difficult period in the Company\u2019s history,\u201d said Dr. Pollard. \u201cShe has shown foresight and
\ndirection in the creation of the transformation strategy which has already begun to show some
\n3
\n36.25% assumes Billabong pays the RPS dividend in cash. Billabong has the right to elect to pay 25% of the RPS dividend
\nin ordinary shares, in which case the Altamont Consortium\u2019s potential future ownership in Billabong could be as high as
\n40.49% after 9.5 years, assuming the Altamont Consortium chooses to redeem its RPS at the latest possible date and that
\nBillabong chooses to pay 25% of the RPS dividend in equity in every period up until the conversion date. The entities
\nadvised by Altamont and GSO Capital Partners will be acting independently with respect to any securities they respectively acquire in the Company or with respect to any governance rights conferred on Altamont. Their holdings have beenaggregated in this announcement for ease of communication only.<\/p>\n

In the event the Company issues shares to Mr. Olivet, the share counts (excluding those of existing shareholders) within this announcement would increase accordingly to reflect the same ownership percentages shown in Annexure A.4
\nencouraging signs particularly in the USA. It is also timely to recognise publicly the ongoing efforts
\nof the Billabong team globally during a period of significant uncertainty, especially those who have
\ngone above and beyond in the interests of their colleagues, the Company and shareholders.\u201d<\/p>\n

In order to further adequately reflect Altamont’s significant investment in the Company, Altamont will be permitted to nominate two representatives to the Board of Billabong. The two representatives are Jesse Rogers and Keoni Schwartz, each of whom will be appointed as additional directors by the Board and will be put forward for election at the next annual general meeting of the Company.<\/p>\n

Jesse Rogers is a Co-Founder and Managing Director of Altamont. Previously, Mr. Rogers cofounded and was Co-Principal Managing Director of Golden Gate Capital (\u201cGGC\u201d). Prior to cofounding GGC, Mr. Rogers was a long time partner at Bain & Company, where he founded and served as the Global Head of Bain\u2019s Private Equity Group. Mr. Rogers is a current or past member of the Board of Directors of a number of public and private companies, including: Beringer Wine
\nEstates, Employer\u2019s Direct Insurance, Endurance Re (observer), Eye Care Centers of America, Herbalife, Interstate National, Lexicon, Rocket Dog, Ruiz Food Products, Tactical Holdings, and TauTona. Mr. Rogers received a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a B.A. from Stanford University.<\/p>\n

Keoni Schwartz is a Co-Founder and Managing Director of Altamont. Prior to Altamont, Mr. Schwartz
\nwas a Principal at GGC, where he completed numerous transactions in the consumer and retail,
\nfinancial services and technology sectors. In addition, Mr. Schwartz helped to build and manage the
\nfirm\u2019s public equities investing activities, working extensively on the firm\u2019s public equity investing
\nvehicle, GGC Public Opportunities. Prior to joining GGC, Mr. Schwartz worked as a consultant in
\nboth the Boston and San Francisco offices of Bain & Company. Previously, Mr. Schwartz also
\nworked as a consultant for The Bridgespan Group, a consulting firm. Mr. Schwartz received a B.A. in
\nHistory with honors from Princeton University.
\nNext steps
\nAs noted above, Billabong intends to convene a meeting of shareholders to approve the issuance to
\nthe Altamont Consortium of the RPS and relevant options. Further details of this meeting will be
\nprovided as soon as possible, including an information booklet containing an independent expert
\nreport.
\nIt is the intention of all the directors to recommend the proposals which require shareholder approval
\nand to vote their own shareholdings in favour of them. Those proposals are:
\n(a) the issue of the options which exceed the issue limits under the ASX Listing Rules, and the
\nissue of shares on exercise of those options;
\n(b) the issue of the RPS, and the issue of shares on conversion of the RPS;
\n(c) the long term incentive components of Scott Olivet\u2019s remuneration; and
\n(d) the election of Jesse Rogers and Keoni Schwartz as directors at the next AGM.
\nThe directors\u2019 recommendation, and their intention to vote in favour, is subject to the independent
\nexpert opining that the issue is fair and reasonable to the Company’s shareholders and in the
\nabsence of any superior proposal.
\nAt the same time as preparing the materials for the shareholder meeting, Billabong will be working
\nwith the Altamont Consortium and GE Capital to agree binding documentation for the Term Loan,
\nConvertible Note and Revolving Facility as soon as possible.
\nMedia or investor related queries should be directed to Chris Fogarty, Group Executive Corporate<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The list of large changes on the memo Billabong released today (July 16, 2013) is almost too long for one headline. That’s probably why they just listed four in order. Refinancing of Syndicated Debt Facilities, Sale Of Dakine, Appointment of New CEO, and New Director Appointments. How’s that for a mouthful? Concurrent with signing the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42745"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42745"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42748,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42745\/revisions\/42748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}