Fri 05/07/2021 13:32 PM
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Relevant Document:
Agriholding 2019 Report (in Italian)

SC Lowy has bought the majority of Agriholding’s €30 million equity-like instruments, or strumenti finanziari partecipativi (SFP), at a discount, sources told Reorg. Agriholding is a subsidiary of SECI Energia, which is one of the companies of SECI, the holding group of Officine Maccaferri. Continue reading for our EMEA Core Credit team's analysis of SC Lowy's purchase of Agriholding's equity-like instruments and request a trial for access to our coverage of thousands of other high-yield, stressed, and distressed debt situations as well as access to the linked documents.

Agriholding’s remaining SFPs are held by the Maccaferri’s family and were originally issued to finance the company's operations, sources added.

Agriholding owns a 50% stake of Powercrop along with Enel Green Power, which holds the other 50% of the company since 2013. Powercrop, which converts and develops sugar refineries into biomass power plants, has transformed two Italian sugar refineries, one in Russi (Ravenna), the other in Macchiareddu (Cagliari), attracting a binding offer from institutional fund F2i, according to sources. Should a sale be completed, Powercrop’s SFP holders would be repaid first, along with accrued interest, while the rest of the money would be distributed among SECI Energia’s creditors, which include the fund Europa Investimenti, sources said.

SECI Energia, which develops and operates renewable energy power plants, needs to dismiss its assets as part of SECI’s concordato.

As reported, SECI - which has about €750 million debt, including €500 million in financial debt - has been working on a concordato plan, which envisages the continuity of SECI as a holding company, keeping participation investments in the manufacturing business and exiting the agrifood, energy and real estate business through the sale of assets deemed no longer strategic.

According to the plan, SECI would keep its shares in the cigar business Manifatture Sigaro Toscano, which will remain within the perimeter of SECI during the 2020-2025 period with an option to sell or refinance at the end of it. The plan also envisages the extension of SECI’s bond maturities and a repayment schedule over years.

A month ago, Apollo’s Italian distressed debt platform Apeiron Management made a €200 million takeover offer for SECI. Apeiron’s bid proposes to repay SECI senior creditors at par and the parent company’s unsecured creditors at about 14 cents on the euro, sources said. SECI’s senior creditors include holders of the holding company’s €90 million bond, which is guaranteed by the shares of subsidiary Manifatture Sigaro Toscano.

The Maccaferri family, which owns SECI, is considering whether to accept or reject Apeiron’s proposal. Previously, fund Taconic had expressed an interest in acquiring the holding company. The next court hearing on SECI’s concordato will take place on May 18 at the Bologna court.

Should Apeiron’s offer be accepted, the fund will take over Manifatture Sigaro Toscano, which is valued at more than €150 million, according to sources, as well as some of the parent company’s real estate assets.

After Apollo’s offer, some blocks of Officine Maccaferri’s 2021 bonds, including a €5 million piece, traded around 19-20.

In October 2020, lenders of SECI Energia tried to offload €30.8 million loans in an auction. According to its 2017 report, the latest available, SECI Energia had €150 million of debt, €82 million of which is bank debt.

--Luca Rossi
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