Cia. Siderúrgica Nacional, or CSN, said Feb. 1 that it struck a deal with Banco do Brasil SA outlining the main terms of extending debt maturities. The Brazilian steelmaker is also in talks with Caixa Econômica Federal for a similar agreement.
The total principal amount of the debt held by the two banks is equivalent to about 49% of CSN's total indebtedness, and the company is looking to extend the repayments for the bank debts to 45 months from 26 months.
The negotiations are subject to execution of final agreements.
CSN previously had 4.3 billion Brazilian reais maturing in 2018 and 3 billion reais each in 2019 and 2020. As a consequence of the deal with the two banks, the company's repayment schedule has changed so it has 1.5 billion reais each maturing in 2018 and 2019 and 1.4 billion reais in 2020.
The company will have about 9.8 billion reais maturing in 2021 through 2024, compared to 3.6 billion reais previously.
Also on Feb. 1, CSN launched an offer to repurchase US$750 million of its 2019 and 2020 notes. It will prioritize repurchasing the 6.875% senior unsecured guaranteed notes due 2019, of which about US$750 million remains outstanding, over the 6.50% senior unsecured guaranteed notes due 2020, which have about US$1.2 billion outstanding.
It is encouraging the noteholders to sell by offering an additional US$30 per US$1,000 face value of the notes tendered under the offer, which will expire March 1.
