Adidas gets 3 billion euro government backed loan, suspends dividend

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German sports retailer Adidas <ADSGn.DE> on Tuesday said it received approval for a syndicated 3 billion-euro ($3.3 billion) government-backed loan to mitigate the financial impact on its business from the spread of the coronavirus.

Retail business has been hit by measures designed to limit social movement and by the postponement or cancellation of large sports events, including the Olympic games.

"Today, the company received the approval of the German government for the participation of KfW, Germany's state-owned development bank, in a syndicated revolving loan facility amounting to 3.0 billion euros," Adidas said.

The loan, which will be priced in line with market conditions, comprises a loan commitment of 2.4 billion euros from KfW and 600 million euros in loan commitments from a consortium including UniCredit, Bank of America, Citibank, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Mizuho Bank and Standard Chartered Bank.

One of the conditions of the syndicated loan is that the company suspends dividend payments for the duration of the loan, Adidas said, adding that company's Executive Board stopped the repurchasing of Adidas shares and decided to forgo its short- and long-term bonus for the year 2020.

Adidas also said it was still unable to provide an outlook for the full year 2020 and that publication of first quarter results would be on April 27, 2020.

(Reporting by Edward Taylor; editing by Barbara Lewis)