Interpipe redeems USD 97 mln of notes

Ukraine’s largest pipe and railway wheel producer
Interpipe (INTHOL) redeemed at par USD 97 mln of its 2024 notes on Aug. 25,
according to the company’s release on the same date.

After this early redemption, which Interpipe announced on Aug. 14,
the amount outstanding of INTHOL’24 notes is USD 113.7 mln, according to the
release.

Recall, in January Interpipe redeemed USD 98.5 mln
of its INTHOL’24 notes.

Dmytro Khoroshun: Interpipe
will save about USD 10 mln per year in interest payments on the expensive
(10.25% per year) notes due to this redemption, which is positive.

It is also positive that Interpipe has been using its
excess cash for clear purposes (redeeming its expensive debt), as opposed to
shady dealings with related parties (such risks are not unheard of in Ukraine).

Interpipe’s redemption of its expensive notes
outstanding is also consistent with the potential intention of its owner,
Viktor Pinchuk, to sell the company. As we speculated earlier, such a sale is only a hypothetical scenario for
now that is based on numerous reports that Pinchuk is making moves to exit from
Ukrainian business.