McDermott International, Inc. announced that it has entered into an amendment to the Company’s Senior Secured Credit Agreement (the “Amendment”). The Amendment includes replacement of an existing minimum EBITDA requirement with a more standard covenant package comprised of two leverage ratios and a fixed charge ratio and removes or reduces certain reporting requirements to the Credit Agreement lenders.  Credit Agricole is listed as the administrative agent in an SEC 8-K filing.

The Amendment is also expected to provide $450 million of letter of credit capacity (with the potential to increase to $600 million under an accordion feature), extend the maturity date of the letter of credit facility under the Senior Secured Credit Agreement to April 22, 2019 (or January 15, 2019 if the term loan remains outstanding or is not refinanced by that date) and provide increased flexibility by increasing the baskets for purchase money indebtedness, acquisitions and purchases of junior priority debt and extending the window to mortgage the DLV 2000 by one year to allow the Company to consider potential financing options.  The Company will seek consents from the existing term lenders on the extension, the basket increases and the timing of the DLV 2000 mortgage.

Also, on April 13, 2016, McDermott entered into an unsecured and uncommitted bilateral letter of credit arrangement for approximately $100 million with a Middle East bank.  This new relationship is expected to support McDermott’s strong bidding activity in the Middle East.

Stuart Spence, McDermott’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, said, “We are extremely pleased with the Amendment to our Credit Agreement and the addition of the Middle East bilateral line as it demonstrates the strong relationships McDermott has with our banks and the confidence they have in our company. The transition from a minimum EBITDA requirement to a more standard covenant package demonstrates McDermott’s improved operational and financial results and further validates the completion of McDermott’s turnaround last year.”

McDermott is a leading provider of integrated engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) services for upstream field developments worldwide.