Frigoglass is heading for a change of ownership 27 years after its founding as the failure to pay the bond issue fee and in fact several months after the group’s borrowing restructuring agreement effectively means that David’s side (who previously owned the bankrupt Nutriart (formerly “Katselis” – and “Paputsanis”) “, which changed ownership) loses control of the company, which passes to the bondholders. This development can be considered unexpected not only because of the group’s latest announcements about amending the agreement with the bondholders, which it entered into only in early December last year, but mainly due to the accumulated problems of the group, problems exacerbated by the pandemic crisis, a catastrophic fire at a factory in Romania and, finally, the outbreak of war in Ukraine.

According to the group’s latest announcement on March 1, 2023, it is significant that “Frigoinvest Holdings BV (FHBV) and Frigoglass Finance BV, the issuers of the mezzanine bonds, have not paid capital and have not accrued interest on the mezzanine bonds. which matured on February 28, 2023. This event is a default event in the context of the act of issuing interim bonds, and this cancellation event is required to start the implementation of the transaction. Following the expiration of the Interim Notes, the bondholders’ committee is expected to begin implementing the transaction shortly by foreclosing collateral on FHBV shares.” The same announcement also states that “Frigoglass and a committee of bondholders, among others, are in preliminary discussions regarding (a) the transfer to FHBV and/or its subsidiaries of substantially all of its assets and liabilities to ensure continued business operations on the date of realization and beyond it, and (b) Frigoglass retaining an indirect minority interest in FHBV after the date of sale. This development of events, in fact, contradicts in essence what was announced a month ago in the context of the amendments to the December agreement. In particular, the announcement dated February 2, 2023, among other things, mentioned that it was decided to add a condition that “a committee of bondholders (they own 57.9% of the total capital of bonds maturing in 2025) agreed not to exercise any or its rights against the group that it would otherwise have exercised if the coupon due on February 1, 2023 had not been paid on the Notes maturing in 2025.” According to the group’s share register, 48.55% of the shares are controlled by the Swiss company Truad Verwaltungs AG (David’s shares), 5.95% is owned by Alpha Bank, and the remaining interest is distributed freely.

The change of ownership occurs 27 years after the founding of the business.

While the group’s client base includes some of the most important multinational beverage and non-alcoholic beverage groups (Coca-Cola, Pepsi, AB InBev, Diageo and Heineken), this is not the first time the group has faced significant financial challenges and no breaking news. . . Indeed, in 2017, it was forced to conclude a loan restructuring agreement with creditors, an agreement that also provided for the capitalization of a significant part of its debts. It previously closed a number of manufacturing plants (North America and Turkey in 2014, China in 2016 and Greece in 2019). In 2020, the group was hit hard by the lockdown, and in June 2021, the commercial refrigerator factory in Timisoara, Romania, the main factory owned by Frigoglass in Europe, was almost completely destroyed. As of February 2022, the group is also facing problems at its plant in Russia.

Frigoglass was founded in 1996 and in 1999 it was listed on the Athens Stock Exchange. It employs over 3,000 permanent employees and also has seasonal staff. Trading in the company’s shares has been suspended since the day before yesterday.