Adidas reportedly planning a multi-billion bond to replace state loan

German sportswear firm Adidas plans a multi-billion euro bond so that it no longer needs the state-backed loan it agreed to take earlier this month to help it get through the coronavirus crisis, Manager Magazine reported on Thursday.

Adidas declined to comment.

Without citing its sources, the magazine said Adidas first had to get a credit rating from a large ratings agency. The magazine said the company had confirmed that fact.

Adidas agreed to take a 2.4 billion euros (2.10 billion pounds) government-backed loan on April 14 after it was hit by the closure of stores due to global coronavirus lockdowns and by the postponement of the Olympic Games and Euro soccer tournament.

Adidas, which reports first-quarter results next Monday, said then it was still unable to provide an outlook for the full year.

The company's 3 billion euros loan includes 2.4 billion euros from the KfW state developmen bank 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.