Carvana shares soar on deal to reduce debt by $1.2 billion

Carvana has reached a deal with noteholders to reduce the used car retailer’s total debt outstanding by over $1.2 billion, the company said Wednesday.

Carvana said the agreement will eliminate more than 83% of Carvana’s 2025 and 2027 unsecured note maturities and lower its required cash interest expense by more than $430 million per year for the next two years.

Shares of the company soared 30% in premarket trading Wednesday after being off roughly 7% before the announcement.

“This transaction significantly increases our financial flexibility by reducing our total debt, extending maturities, and lowering near-term cash interest expense as we continue to execute our plan of driving significant profitability and returning to growth,” Carvana CFO Mark Jenkins said in a statement.

Carvana said its restructuring agreement covered roughly $5.2 billion of senior, unsecured bonds and included Apollo Global Management, its largest bondholder. Under the terms of the deal, creditors will get new secured notes.

The agreement was announced in conjunction with the company’s second-quarter earnings.

Carvana’s debt prior to the deal was roughly $8.5 billion, including $5.7 billion, or 74.5%, in unsecured notes.

Carvana has been working on such a deal for more than a year as the stock went into freefall due to a heavy debt load and improper management during the coronavirus pandemic.

This is a developing story. Please check back for additional updates.