Goodyear completes credit restructuring

AKRON (April 2)—Goodyear has completed a comprehensive restructuring of its bank credit and accounts receivable pacts, replacing $2.94 billion with $3.3 billion in credit facilities. The new agreements provide the tire maker with additional financial flexibility and liquidity, President and CEO Robert J. Keegan said. "They give us both the time and the opportunity to turn around our North American Tire business," he said. The $3.3 billion in credit facilities include four secured loans: a $750 million U.S. revolving credit facility due in 2005; another U.S. account for $645 million due in 2005; a $650 million European facility due in 2005; and a $1.3 billion asset-based facility due in 2006. The restructured credit agreements replace facilities that had shorter maturities but, with the exception of $763 million in U.S. and Canadian accounts receivable facilities, were unsecured.