Zim restructuring plan approved

Zim will receive a capital injection of US$450 million from its parent company and additional US$500 million of new financing
 
Zim Integrated Shipping Services said its restructuring plan was approved last Tuesday at a shareholder meeting of parent company Israel Corp.
 
Zim will receive a capital injection of US$450 million from its parent company. Shareholders also approved a US$100 million "safety net" that the company said would "ensure sufficient liquidity for Zim should circumstances require.”
 
Israel Corp.'s capital injection will be converted to equity, which the company said would create stronger capital structure for Zim. Israel Corp. owns 99% of Zim.
 
In addition to the funds from its parent, the company will receive US$500 million of new financing from three banking syndicates to finance the acquisition of new ships.
 
"With these arrangements in place, Zim is now fully prepared to trade its way out of the global economic downturn and back to profitability and growth, said Rafi Danieli, Zim's chief executive officer.
 
One of the major elements of the restructuring plan will see Israel Corporation's huge capital injection converted to equity - creating a new, strong and stable capital structure for ZIM.
 
ZIM CFO, Allon Raveh said: "Today's vote marks the end of an intensive restructuring process that has been ongoing over recent months.
 
"This result means we've completed a major strengthening and stabilization of the company's capital structure, which makes ZIM a completely different company in terms of its financial structure.
 
"ZIM will receive an injection of almost half a billion dollars of capital investment from Israel Corporation, as well as a further half a billion dollars of new financing from three banking syndicates to finance the acquisition of our new vessels.
 
ZIM CEO, Rafi Danieli added: "We would like to thank our shareholder, Israel Corporation, and the Ofer Group, for their strong support and backing of ZIM. The completion of this restructuring plan has seen ZIM re-invent itself in terms of its stability andoperational performance.
 
"With these arrangements in place, ZIM is now fully prepared to trade its way out of the global economic downturn and back to profitability and growth.
 
"We must now, as always, focus on delivering the highest possible standards of service to our customers. We are committed to developing an even greater range of services, and we are confident that this approach will be a major contributing factor to our overall goal of increasing our customer base.
 
"We would like to thank our loyal customers for demonstrating a high level of trust and continuing to work with us throughout the restructuring process. We are very proud of our established customer base, and we are looking forward to winning and working with new customers in the coming months," said Mr. Danieli.