Pomina Steel: $421M Refinancing & M&A Mandate
Structured and negotiated a two-year financing solution for a $421M steel manufacturer carrying a 1.3x debt ratio, then turned the engagement into a forward M&A advisory mandate.
- Role
- Corporate Advisory Consultant
- Organisation
- Pomina Steel Group
- Location
- Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Pomina is one of Vietnam's larger steel manufacturers. When I joined the engagement it was carrying about $421M in obligations against a 1.3x debt ratio. It was still solvent, but the capital structure left almost no room to absorb a soft patch in the steel cycle.
Context
Steel is cyclical and capital-intensive. With this much leverage, a normal dip in margins could turn a refinancing question into a solvency question. The brief was to take refinancing risk off the table for two years, and to put a credible plan in front of lenders without selling the business short or raising equity under pressure.
Approach
I built the case from the numbers up. I developed a discounted-cash-flow model of the business and set operational KPI benchmarks at the factory level (throughput, utilisation, and unit economics), so lenders could track performance against agreed milestones instead of relying on promises.
Around that I structured a two-year financing solution to remove the near-term refinancing risk, plus a $35M capital deployment plan to bring leverage down, lift free cash flow, and rebuild headroom over the period. Then I sat in the negotiations.
The model mattered, but the deal closed on the terms. Most of the work was turning the numbers into something both sides could agree to, with milestones they could both trust.
Result
The two-year structure was agreed, and the capital plan set the path back to a healthier balance sheet. Because the work delivered, Pomina extended the engagement into a forward M&A advisory mandate, which is about the clearest sign a client can give that the analysis held up.
What I took from it
Restructuring is where modelling meets negotiation. A DCF only matters once it becomes a number two parties will sign against. This is the kind of cross-border industrial-credit work I want to keep doing.