According to the company, this refinancing will reduce financing costs, while increasing flexibility and efficiency.

Commenting on the repayment, David Meiklejohn, chairman of PaperlinX says, “The Board is very pleased with the speed that PaperlinX has been able to undertake the refinancing programme, while at the same time making a substantial reduction to overall debt levels.

“Repaying our historic lenders early has removed the expensive supervisory role played by them and their advisors that caused substantial, and sometimes unnecessary, distraction to the Board and management over the past 18 months.”

Also commenting, Tom Park, CEO of PaperlinX says, “This is a key step in rebuilding our financial position, which, along with our significant debt reduction and exit from manufacturing substantially reduces risk across the Group and provides us with a solid platform on which we can rebuild returns for our shareholders.”

PaperlinX also reports that its debt has been significantly reduced over the past year, with gross debt of $526m at 31 December 2009 compared with $1,518m at 31 December 2008. Gross debt at June 2010 is expected to be down to around $400m; a further 25 per cent reduction in the current half year and around $1.1bn lower than the 31 December 2008 level.

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