Negotiating a facility is a cumbersome process nowadays. We can not expect that all banks supporting us previously will want to remain. The rating agencies require that we have reasonable planning horizon meaning that we need to start negotiating more than one year prior to maturity. We see a clear trend that companies below investment grade must rely more on the bond market than on bank loans. We have a problem to figure out which banks are global and which banks will be there for the long run. Which banks shall we spend our time and efforts on? Bank relationship management has never been so challenging and time consuming. We should learn to be more opportunistic; take the opportunities to finance to reasonable terms when they pop-up. We should not try to get marginal term improvements. This is not the time to be greedy. Another lesson we have learnt is that we shall conserve our cash and implement stringent cash allocation procedures. Cash will be a scarce resource for the long term.
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