UCB successfully completes credit facility renewal

UCB has announced the successful conclusion of the amendment and restatement of its one billion euro (870.19 million pounds) revolving credit facility.

The pharmaceutical company has reported "significant oversubscription" to the amended scheme, which extends the maturity period from 2015 to 2016, while reducing the margin and removing all financial covenants.

It comes after UCB engaged in negotiations with its core-relationship banks following improvements in conditions affecting the overall loan market earlier this year.

Detlef Thielgen, chief financial officer of UCB, said this new development is indicative of the company's strength, despite the prevailing weakness of the economy in general.

"The fact that all existing mandated lead arranger banks… have signed up to this amendment and achieving an oversubscription by more than 50 percent underscores the confidence which our core relationship banks have," he noted.

Last month, the company announced the election of Gerhard Mayr as the new chairman of its board of directors, succeeding Karel Boone in May 2012.