Mondelez International (MDLZ 0.99%), the beverage and snack giant behind such brands as Oreo, Cadbury, and Nabisco, has joined a growing number of companies obtaining new lines of credit to support their liquidity during the coronavirus turmoil. The company posted its SEC current report online Thursday, providing details of the revolving credit agreement with a group of lenders, with Citibank as the administrative agent. The revolving credit facility gives Mondelez access to $1.75 billion.
Many other companies have drawn down part or all of their available credit during the past week to ensure that they'll have plenty of cash on hand to ride out the pandemic. Mondelez has seemingly not drawn down any of the available $1.75 billion, and the agreement gives it the right to terminate the credit line in whole or in part if it doesn't actually borrow the money.
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The food and beverage company can also optionally request the lenders to provide up to an additional $1 billion in credit at a later date as part of the same arrangement. The credit term is 364 days, and the loans are unsecured. Mondelez will be required to maintain a minimum shareholder equity of $24.6 billion during the period, a standard that's in line with other term loan agreements it has made recently.
Mondelez says that any money drawn down will be used for working capital and for general corporate expenses. With demand for snack and comfort food surging as people self-isolate in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company decided to give its hourly workers bonuses on March 31, and says it's trying to hire approximately 1,000 more people to meet its production needs.
