Saga sets sail with £450m HPS refinancing boost
Saga, the financial services and travel provider to the over-50s, is tapping one of the world's biggest investment firms as part of a refinancing aimed at relieving pressure on its balance sheet.
Sky News has learnt that London-listed Saga is lining up HPS - which is in the process of being taken over by the asset management behemoth BlackRock - to help refinance more than £450m of its existing debt.
Financiers said an agreement was likely to be announced alongside a scheduled trading update from the company on Thursday morning.
Money latest:
The debt involved in the deal comprises a bond, a loan from chairman Sir Roger De Haan and Saga's revolving credit facility.
A refinancing will be a boost to Saga, which has been weighed down by a debt pile which is huge relative to the value of its equity.
It will come months after the company struck a partnership deal with the Belgian insurer Ageas, which involves a series of cash payments to the British business.
In February last year, it also held talks with Open, an Australian company, about a sale of the division but the discussions fell apart.
Saga has previously signalled that it would explore a similar partnership model for its cruises division, although a transaction is not thought to be imminent.
Shares in Saga have fallen by just over 20% during the last 12 months, leaving it with a market capitalisation of about £165m.
Read more from Sky News:Lloyds to cut 136 group branchesChancellor backs Heathrow third runwayPost Office unveils new wave of cuts
Mr de Haan, the company's former chief executive, was parachuted back in to lead a turnaround in the summer of 2020, investing £100m as part of a broader capital-raising.
That came after it spurned a takeover bid for the whole company from private equity investors.
A Saga spokesperson declined to comment on Wednesday evening.
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