Grontmij Announces Divestment of All its Remaining French Activities

DE BILT, The Netherlands, June 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Grontmij, a listed consulting & engineering company with a strong European presence, announces it has signed an agreement to sell all of its remaining French activities to RKO MANAGEMENT & INVESTMENT  led by Rafi Kouyoumdjian. With this next step, Grontmij completes the divestment process of the remaining activities in France. 

In line with earlier announcements, the transaction will result in a book loss which upon closing is expected to be between € 24 - 26 million. The cash out related to the transaction is foreseen to be between € 20 - 22 million. This includes closing on a debt-free basis, partial funding of the necessary restructuring, a compensation for losses, a cash compensation for existing provisions (i.e pensions and claims) and transaction fees. Today's announcement follows the decision to divest the local French operations, as communicated early 2014. Grontmij was advised by Rothschild, Blue Capital Management and Jeantet. Closing is expected in the coming weeks, subject to customary conditions.

The divestment of the remaining French activities of Grontmij comprise of a number of medium and smaller sized businesses. In 2014 these businesses had aggregate sales of € 55 million. Through Grontmij Belgium, Grontmij remains committed to Light Rail projects for the Paris Metro.

Grontmij entered the French market in 2010 with the acquisition of Ginger. In 2011 the non-core French telecom activities were divested and in 2013 the stand-alone Monitoring & Testing business was divested. Early 2014, Grontmij announced the intention to divest the remaining French businesses. As a consequence of the divestment decision, the French activities were classified as Asset Held for Sale and were reported separately under discontinued operations per end Q2 2014. On 1 April 2015 the closing of the divestment of Parera was announced. Today's announcement finalises the divestment process of all the remaining French activties.

Following the divestment of the French activities, Grontmij has agreed with its banks a revised Net debt / EBITDA covenant ratio for Q2 2015 of 3.5x (previously 2.75x) and for Q3 2015 of 3.75x (previously 2.75x). Additionally, one of the lending banks has converted an uncommitted credit line into a committed credit line of € 15 million until 31 October 2015.

Reference is made to the press release published today by Grontmij and Sweco regarding the intended public offer by Sweco for all issued and outstanding ordinary shares of Grontmij.

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About Grontmij

Grontmij is a leading European company in the Consulting & Engineering industry with world class expertise in the fields of energy, highways & roads, sustainable buildings and water.

Our leading principle is Sustainability by Design. This enables our professionals to support clients in developing the built and natural environment. Established in 1915, Grontmij is listed on the NYSE Euronext stock exchange.

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