Real estate firm Avison Young nears restructure post default
BNN Bloomberg
Real estate services firm Avison Young (Canada) Inc. said it’s close to a restructuring that will clean up its balance sheet after it defaulted on a senior term loan, causing a ratings downgrade.
Toronto-based Avison Canada missed principal and interest payments in the third and fourth quarters of 2023, S&P Global Ratings said in a statement Friday, downgrading the firm to “SD” for selective default. S&P’s action was expected, company spokeswoman Andrea Zviedris said by email.
“We are going to just eliminate significantly more than 50 per cent of all of our obligations,” Chief Executive Officer Mark Rose said in an interview with Bloomberg on Saturday, adding that Avison’s board will also shed non-independent directors.
The company was preparing to announce the restructure as soon as Monday and updated the ratings agencies on its plans. At that point, S&P said it was then obliged to inform the market immediately, though it didn’t provide a full picture of the company’s position, Rose said.
