The Company
Die FEUER powertrain Gruppe („FPT“) mit Hauptsitz in Nordhausen (Thüringen) ist ein weltweit führender, unabhängiger Hersteller von Kurbelwellen für PKW-, LKW-, Landmaschinen- und Industriemotoren sowie die Segmente Freizeit-Fahrzeuge (ATV, Motorräder, Jetski, Sportboote, etc.) und Kompressoren. Obwohl ein Großteil des derzeitigen Geschäftes auf Anwendungen im Bereich Verbrennungsmotor basiert, bestehen für FPT weiterhin Wachstumschancen aus einem beschleunigten Outsourcing-Trend und der weiteren Diversifizierung der Aktivitäten.
FEUER powertrain betreibt derzeit insgesamt sieben Werke mit hochautomatisierten, flexiblen Fertigungslinien an den Standorten Nordhausen und Beuren (Deutschland) sowie in Tunica, Mississippi (USA).
The Transaction
The outbreak of the Corona crisis and the accompanying almost complete shutdown of a large part of international industrial production has led, as with many other companies, to a significant downgrading of FPT's short-term business outlook as well as increased uncertainty regarding the recovery of the market and the associated earnings and cash flow effects.
Against this backdrop, FPT has postponed a far-reaching realignment of its financing structure originally planned for 2020, which was to focus primarily on financing further growth and optimising the capital structure, and has instead adjusted its financing structure for the time being by adding two new financing tranches in order to ensure sufficient financing flexibility through the Corona crisis.
The two new financing tranches as part of the existing syndicated loan address both expected temporary and sustainable financing needs resulting from the Corona crisis. At the same time, the term of the syndicated financing as well as a bilateral private placement financing was extended and an adjustment of various financing regulations was agreed upon with all financing partners of the group, which ensured a contractually compliant financing even through the Corona crisis. In particular, a "covenant holiday" has been established for the main financial covenants, which have been suspended for the time being due to the existing market uncertainties and will only be redefined on the basis of a reliable outlook for the market recovery after the Corona crisis. In order to be able to flexibly implement further financing steps after the start of the recovery phase and to sufficiently take advantage of possible market opportunities despite the current focus on financing stability, the adjusted financing structure also provided for selected regulations on the basis of which further financing components can be quickly supplemented.
Scope of Mandate
ARGONAS acted as FPT's exclusive debt advisor in the financing process, advising and supporting FPT on all aspects of the transaction. Despite the large number of stakeholders as well as the particular challenges of the transaction process in the middle of the Corona crisis, the financing was successfully closed within only a few weeks.
