Blue Torch Finance Provides $120MM Term Loan to American Zinc Recycling

Blue Torch Finance provided a $120 million senior secured term loan credit facility to American Zinc Recycling.

“We are pleased to announce the completion of this transaction, which accomplishes a number of important objectives, including strengthening our liquidity, enhancing our financial flexibility and extending the duration of our debt,” Steve Bishop, executive vice president and CFO of American Zinc Recycling, said. “This refinancing positions us exceptionally well to service our steel industry customers as we complete our transformation to a full-cycle, vertically integrated zinc recycler with the ramp up of our American Zinc Products (AZP) plant in Rutherford County, North Carolina. We emerge from this transaction in a robust commodity price environment with a strong hedging profile that eliminates nearly all of our commodity risk through 2022.”

The Blue Torch loan is secured by a first lien on all the assets of American Zinc Recycling and its subsidiaries and matures in 2024. Ducera Securities and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld advised American Zinc Recycling on the transaction. Dechert advised Blue Torch Finance on the transaction.

“We are happy to have forged a strong relationship with Blue Torch and appreciate the confidence that they have shown in AZR,” Joel Hawthorne, president and CEO of American Zinc Recycling, said. “This transaction comes at an exciting time for the company, as we recently announced the one-year anniversary of bringing AZP online. Today, we are producing specialty high grade (SHG) zinc, providing a mission critical service to our electric arc furnace customers by recycling a hazardous material in an environmentally friendly way and returning a highly valuable end-product to those same customers as well as many other end users. This financing provides us the runway to execute on our strategic vision and create tremendous value for our stakeholders.”