Westpac makes Cover-More an offer it can't refuse
Westpac will provide Cover-More with a new A$76.9 million banking facility, once the travel insurance group has completed the initial public offering it launched this week.Cover-More, which issued a prospectus on Monday, will pay an effective rate of 4.7 per cent on its Westpac facility - indicative of the tight pricing in the corporate market (Westpac's standard variable mortgage rate is 5.98 per cent).The Cover-More Group, which claims a 40 per cent share of the Australian travel insurance market, is seeking $521.2 million of equity capital through the offer of 260.6 million shares (82.1 per cent of total shares on issue). The company will list on the Australian Securities Exchange later this month.The company hopes to attract investors with its record of nine per cent compound annual growth in the Australian travel insurance market, and higher rates of growth in the Asian markets where it operates, including China and India.Cover-More will use $124.4 million of funds raised in the offer to repay existing debt and associated derivatives.Westpac will provide a three-year, $64.4 million, revolving term cash advance and $12.5 million of working capital. Both tranches have a variable interest rate, set at a margin to the bank bill swap rate. Cover-Moore said it expected the effective rate to be 4.7 per cent.Cover-More has given Westpac an undertaking that its net leverage ratio (net debt divided by EBITDA) will not be greater than three times earnings (currently it is 1.2 times). It has also agreed that its interest cover ratio (EBITDA divided by interest expense) will be equal to or greater than three times earnings (currently 15.8 times).