Rimske Toplice, 11 January (STA) – The state and creditor banks have agreed to recapitalise spa operator Rimske terme with cash and non-cash contributions, spa operator boss Alenka Iskra told the STA on Friday. She refused to disclose the details of the deal, but the daily Dnevnik reported that the state is to contribute EUR 7m, part in cash and part in debt-to-equity conversion.
The daily Dnevnik reported today that the state will provide EUR 4.5m in cash while the remaining EUR 2.5m is to be provided through the conversion of claims by the state and associated state-owned companies. The spa operator’s capital stock before the capital injection will stand at EUR 22m.
Creditor banks will gain ownership shares proportionate with their contribution and are to hold three out of six seats in the supervisory board of Rimske terme. The banks have also agreed to defer EUR 2m in loans.
Rimske term owes creditor bank a total of EUR 22m. In order to be sustainable in the long term, the debt should be cut to under EUR 15m, which is the aim of the debt-to-equity conversion.
Should the recapitalisation fail, the spa operator would be pushed into receivership, which would also result in the state having to return about EUR 6m in European funds, the daily reported.
Rimske terme has been in court-mandated debt restructuring since November 2011. Debt restructuring was launched only seven months after the spa resort near Laško in central Slovenia opened to the public following a prolonged period of decay.
The facility is a renovated military spa resort, which was closed in October 1991, when the Ministry of Defence decided it would no longer use it for military purposes. Six governments were subsequently involved in the efforts to renovate the resort.