SEVEN HILLS, Ohio & TEL AVIV, Israel -- Addressing the scrutiny surrounding its parent company's postponement of a February bond payment, an EZ Energy USA executive told CSP Daily News the situation was worked out prior to the initial deadline and included an interest payment paid on time.
Ohio-based EZ Energy USA Inc., which operates 69 convenience stores and supplies 22 here, was involved partly because the U.S. chain is undergoing an 18-store sale-and-leaseback process--one that admittedly is going slower than expected.
"It's normal in the respect that whenever you're going through refinancing--which has a number of different components--some things take longer," said Gregg Budoi, president and CEO of EZ Energy USA. "When you plan to have something done, time to time you have to change gears. Deals in place are taking longer [to resolve]."
Budoi clarified that the bond payment decision resides with its parent, EZ Energy Ltd. in Tel Aviv, Israel. Though EZ Energy USA played a part, the bond payment issue is playing out many steps above the chain's day-to-day operations.
With the $22.9 million sale-leaseback deal yet to resolve (see Related Content below for previous CSP Daily News coverage), bondholders essentially agreed to postpone bond payment on the principal until after the refinancing closes, a timeframe that may push back the new May deadline into July, reports say.
But Budoi remained confident that the process would be allowed to work itself through. "Bondholders agreed to the principal portion," he said. "Instead of making that in February, we'd make it when refinancing finishes."
Meanwhile, EZ Energy USA continues its c-store rebranding program. Having finished Pittsburgh in recent months, the company is preparing to upgrade its locations in the Cleveland market.
Controlled by chairman Dr. Eli Zehavi, EZ Energy owns more than 100 stations in the United States.
EZ Energy is a publicly traded holding company with headquarters in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Gan, Israel. Based in Seven Hills, Ohio, EZ Energy USA owns and operates Easy Trip stores currently located throughout northern Ohio (Cleveland area) and western Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh area). Easytrip Stores are found in the Cleveland, central Ohio and Pittsburgh areas. Easy Trip stores offer BP or Marathon-branded gasoline.
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