Surprising details emerge in Torex bail-out package
Software firm secures £15m bail-out from lenders to tide it over and also bolsters its board with the appointment of former Railtrack FD Steve Marshall as chairman
Software firm secures £15m bail-out from lenders to tide it over and also bolsters its board with the appointment of former Railtrack FD Steve Marshall as chairman
Torex Retail has
confirmed details of the deal it hammered out with its bankers to keep its head
above water. The software provider announced today that a ‘syndicate of banks’,
headed by the RBS had
‘agreed to provide the requested additional short-term working capital facility
of £15m.’
The much-needed cash will help shore up the company following its recent
setbacks, which saw borrowing rocket by more than £23m after delayed contracts.
The £15m package is, however, considerably lower than the figure predicted by
analysts.
Torex said in a statement: ‘The board considers that this will be sufficient
to meet the company’s short-term working capital requirements. The £15m is in
addition to the company’s existing total banking facilities of £152.5m
comprising term loans and overdraft facilities.’
In the past few weeks, Torex has made a raft of board changes, which claimed
the scalps of chief exec Neil Mitchell and chairman Chris Moore. Steve Marshall,
former CEO of both
Railtrack and Thorn
(who was also group FD at both companies), has been announced as the latest
import to the Torex board, and will take over as chairman.
Torex said: ‘The board is also delighted to have appointed somebody of the
calibre of Steve Marshall, whose experience and guidance will be of great
benefit to the company during this period.
It added: ‘The company expects to enter into further discussions with its
bankers with respect to its medium- to long-term financing requirements in the
next few months, when the company has finalised results for the financial year
ended 31 December 2006 and has an up-to-date view of the 2007/2008 trading
prospects.’
Further reading:
Torex appoints new chief exec on Deloitte’s advice
Deposed Torex chief exec says: ‘I blew
whistle’
Torex ousts chief exec and chairman, as
firms called in