TAV closes on Tunisian airports debt restructuring

TAV Airports has closed the restructuring of debt on its two 40-year Tunisian airport concessions - Monastir and Enfidha - after a technical default by TAV Tunisia in 2020 on €618 million of bank loans caused by pandemic financial pressure. The new facility is being provided by AfDB, Deutsche Bank, EIB, IFC, OFID, Proparco and Standard Bank. Shearman & Sterling provided lender counsel. The restructuring involved a number of stages including a restructuring of the concession arrangements, the exit of minority shareholders, the injection of additional funds by the Sponsor (TAV Holdings), a partial debt write-off by lenders and hedging counterparts, a conversion by certain lenders of a portion of their loans into first-in-kind “secured” Tunisian participating shares and an extension to the maturity of the remaining loans. 

The two airports were originally financed in 2008 by IFC, ABN Amro, Societe Generale, and Standard Bank via a 14-year commercial tranche and 20-year multilateral tranche.