(Reuters) – Britain’s Saga is likely to announce a deal to help the holiday group refinance more than 450 million pounds ($559.4 million) of its existing debt on Thursday, Sky News reported on Wednesday.
Saga, which specialises in cruise packages for people over 50 years of age, is lining up HPS for the deal, Sky News added. HPS is being acquired by asset manager BlackRock.
The deal, which financiers expect to be announced along with Saga’s first-quarter trading statement before the market opens on Thursday, is likely to include a bond and loan from Chairman Roger De Haan and Saga’s revolving credit facility, the report said.
London-listed Saga sold its insurance underwriting business for $88.1 million to Belgian firm Ageas in October after facing challenges with the unit’s performance.
Both Saga and HPS declined Reuters’ request for comment.
Saga’s net debt stood at 614.6 million pounds as of July 31, according to its latest accounts, against a market capitalization of 163.72 million pounds as of Wednesday’s close.
($1 = 0.8044 pounds)
(Reporting by Prerna Bedi in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Judes Joseph; Editing by Leroy Leo and David Gregorio)
