Billabong repays $294mn bridge loan of Altamont

It was previously announced that Sally Pitkin would retire from the Board on funding of the New Term Debt in order to accommodate the rebalancing of the Board. However as a result of Altamont agreeing to give up Board representation, Billabong can achieve its objective of a seven-member Board while also retaining Sally. Sally will continue as one of three independent directors along with Ian Pollard and Howard Mowlem. The other directors are founder and substantial shareholder Gordon Merchant, Jason Mozingo (nominated by Centerbridge), Matt Wilson (nominated by Oaktree), and CEO Neil Fiske.

Annual General Meeting and General Meeting

The Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) requires Billabong to hold an annual general meeting prior to 30 November each year. Billabong announces that it has received in principle approval from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission ("ASIC") to extend the time by which it must hold the 2013 Annual General Meeting ("AGM"). It is expected that the AGM will be held on Tuesday, 10 December 2013, at which the general business of the AGM together with the resolutions requested by Coastal Capital International, Ltd. will be put before shareholders.

Billabong had intended to also put before shareholders at the AGM the resolutions in connection with the proposed placement as part of the transactions entered into with the C/O Consortium. Billabong now expects that these resolutions will be put at a separate meeting in January 2014. This change is due to a delay in obtaining an independent expert's report acceptable to ASIC to accompany the meeting materials in respect of those resolutions.

Sale of West 49

Billabong announces that it has entered an agreement to sell its Canadian retail chain, West 49, to YM Inc., a leading fashion retailer with a number of highly successful stores including Stitches, Urban Planet, Sirens, Siblings, Suzy Shier and Bluenotes. As part of the sale the two parties have also entered into an initial two-year supply agreement.

YM will purchase the 92 West 49 retail stores across Canada for approximately CAD$9 to 11 million. Along with retaining six Billabong stores and two Element stories in Canada, Billabong has also entered into an approximately CAD$34 million non-exclusive wholesale agreement with YM over the next two years.

"The sale of West 49 is part of our broader strategy of simplifying our business and focusing on the core of what we do best, which is building strong global brands,” said Neil Fiske, CEO of Billabong. “The supply agreement we’ve entered into ensures our products will continue to have a strong presence for consumers in that market.”

Billabong