Cedacri's €980M bond refinancing walls off ION merger with Cerved, Prelios
What's the deal? CedacriDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, an Italian banking software provider, launched a €980 million high-yield bond on Monday to refinance debt maturing in 2028. The offering is split between a €450 million fixed-rate tranche and a €530 million floating-rate note. Proceeds repay €650 million of notes backing its 2021 buyout by ION Group and a €275 million tranche that funded a 2023 dividend.
The twist: A covenant in the bond documents bars Cedacri from merging with fellow ION portfolio companies Cerved and PreliosDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The clause draws a line under a rumoured three-way tie-up that bankers said would have let struggling Cerved refinance at cheaper rates.
Why now? Cerved, a credit-risk data and debt-recovery firm, is under pressure. Moody's cut it to triple-C in July, and its 2029 notes trade around 70, yielding roughly 25.6%. Cedacri is viewed as the strongest credit of ION's three Italian bond-issuing entities.
What's the endgame? The deal pushes maturities to 2031, lifts the revolving credit facility from €60 million to €100 million, and adds a 5% annual mandatory prepayment. S&PDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → projects leverage falling below 5x in 2026 and below 4x in 2027.
By the numbers: Cedacri pitched the refinancing at 2.7x leverage, based on €926.5 million in net financial liabilities against €345.1 million in pro forma adjusted EBITDA for the 12 months through September. Its top 10 customers generated about 50% of 2025 revenue.
What could go wrong? S&P placed Cedacri's B rating on review for upgrade and assigned a preliminary B+ to the new secured notes, pending final terms. The bonds sit unsecured at issue, then secured within five business days by a pledge over Cedacri shares held by parent DGB Bidco Holdings.
The signal: The covenant marks one of the largest Italian debt deals on record, ranking in the top 3% by size. It signals that ION's portfolio companies may stay financially and structurally separate — at least under this package.
Read more: spglobal.com
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
