Edcon seeks bondholder consent for new credit facility

London - Edcon is seeking consent from senior creditors to obtain as much as R1.5bn from banks and bondholders in a new facility as South Africa’s biggest clothing retailer restructures its debt.

The company, owned by US private equity firm Bain Capital Partners, asked holders of notes due 2018 and 2019 to amend debt terms to allow for the new bridge financing in US dollars and euros, Johannesburg-based Edcon said in a statement late on Tuesday. More than half of the bondholders have already consented to the changes, with the remainder due to reply by July 8.

Edcon won support from its creditors in April to defer cash-pay interest obligations as it bought time to negotiate a debt restructuring and turn around its operations. The unprofitable retailer is the owner of chains including Edgars, Jet and CNA.

Junior creditors agreed to take losses last year as the company struggled to meet debt commitments due to a weaker rand and slower sales. The retailer was loaded with foreign-currency debt through a 2007 acquisition by Bain.