Storytel has, in accordance with EU regulations, announced its latest refinancing arrangement with Swedbank as it looks to further expansion.
From the press release (July 7):
Storytel has entered a new loan agreement with Swedbank today which involves the granting of a further 200 MSEK, of which 100 MSEK may be put to use immediately, while the other half may be used conditionally, although at latest December 31st, 2019. The amortisation of each tranche will amount to 10 MSEK per annum respectively, with interest rates at current levels or slightly lower. This new financing agreement will allow Storytel to reduce its rate of amortisation on existing credits from approximately 42 MSEK to 20 SEK per annum. As of March 31st, 2018, existing credits totalled 163 MSEK. An additional overdraft facility of 75 MSEK will remain intact. The overdraft facility is currently is not used.
Refinancing its loans is part of the Storytel’s long-term financial strategy, and will be used to supporting the company’s ongoing expansion.
Storytel currently operates its audiobook and ebook streaming services in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, The Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Spain, India, the UAE and Turkey.
For a while now TNPS has been reporting on Storytel’s plans for Italy, Bulgaria and Mexico, and yesterday Porter Anderson over at Publishing Perspectives was able to get confirmation from Storytel’s Helena Gustafsson that Italy. Bulgaria and Mexico launches are all being progressed.
As I noted in comments on Porter Anderson’s post,
It’s an exciting time for global audiobooks, with Storytel leading the international charge.
As yet Storytel and Amazon’s Audible have not gone head to head, but that will change when Storytel Italy goes live this summer and when Audible finally launches in India, any day now.
Perhaps more interesting still is where Storytel will go with ebooks now it has its own ereader. Again, with the exception of Mexico, India, Netherlands and Italy, Storytel’s footprint has been careful not to overlap with the Kindle stores.
