Global Ports Holding (GPH), the world’s largest cruise port operator and a subsidiary of Global Investment Holding (GYH), announced that its international strategic investor is “Sixth Street”, an international investment institution with a portfolio size of over USD 50bn in asset management. A total of USD 261m will be used through a two-part loan agreement according to a statement by the company.
“Our new loan agreement not only secured our current financing needs for the next 5 years, it also gave us financial flexibility to take advantage of key growth opportunities,” said GYH and GPH Chairman Mehmet Kutman adding that they look forward to growing the business with the loan.
Dependent on certain preconditions, USD 261m will be used in two parts through a 5-year loan agreement. The first part of the loan, USD 186.3m, will be used for the redemption (including expenses) of the Eurobond of GPH’s subsidiary Global Ports Operations with a maturity of November 2021 before its due date and under reasonable market conditions. The second portion of USD 75m is planned to be used in new investments in line with the group’s strategy of expanding the port network with cruise focus.
Commenting on the loan deal, GPH CEO Emre Sayin stated that the loan agreement is an important step in improving the financial structure of the company. “Passengers have started to come to our cruise ports. The vast majority of them will meet their passengers in the next few weeks. 2020 was a year full of uncertainties whereas 2021 continues with hope,” he said.
