Morgan Lewis has advised ING Bank N.V. on a $750 million unsecured term club facility for the major global agrochemical holding EuroChem Group AG.
ING Bank N.V. was the coordinator and documentation agent for the deal, which involved a syndicate of leading international banks. UniCredit London acted as agent.
Shearman & Sterling advised Bayerische Landesbank on the financing of the acquisition of the branded business of Cloetta Italia by Katjes International. In addition to partially financing the acquisition, the financing serves to cover working capital requirements.
Katjes International is the international holding company of Katjes group. Katjes International pursues a buy and hold approach and acquires companies with established brands in the Western European confectionery market.
With a Frankfurt-based team led by partner Thomas K. Schrell, the business law firm of Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek advised R+S group, headquartered in Fulda, on refinancing its existing EUR 100 million syndicated loan.
Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek supported the group comprehensively on structuring, negotiating, and implementing the entire financing documentation.
Shearman & Sterling represented Credit Suisse, Société Générale, BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, ING, UniCredit and CaixaBank as initial purchasers on Masaria Investments’ €600 million high yield bond offering. The bond consisted of €275 million 5% senior secured fixed rate notes due 2024 and €325 million senior secured floating rate notes due 2024.
With a Frankfurt-based team led by partner Thomas K. Schrell, the business law firm of Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek comprehensively advised Katjes International on acquisition financing in connection with the acquisition of Cloetta Italia’s brand business. The acquired brands include "Sperlari" and others. Financing was provided by Bayerische Landesbank. In addition to partial financing of the corporate acquisition, the financing purpose is the provision of funds to cover the Italian subsidiary’s working capital requirements.
Biotechnology company Evotec AG has been granted a loan of EUR 75 million by the European Investment Bank (EIB) to support its Innovate strategy. Evotec plans to use the financial backing to drive research and development on active ingredients for pharmaceutical products. The loan is guaranteed by the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI), a key element of the Investment Plan for Europe – also known as the Juncker Plan. This is the first major success-dependent finance arrangement with an EFSI guarantee.
Clifford Chance Moscow has advised 11 international banks on the US$850 million pre-export financing for Uralkali, one of the world’s largest potash producers.
ING and Natixis acted as Joint Facility Coordinators on the transaction, alongside additional bookrunners and MLAs Commerzbank, Credit Agricole, SocGen (Rosbank) and UniCredit.
In addition, Bank of America, ICBC and RB International committed as arrangers, and Bank of China and IKB joined as lenders.
Ashurst advised new client Oriflame Holding AG, a leading beauty company selling direct in more than 60 countries, in relation to its new €160 million revolving credit facility provided by HSBC, ING, BBVA, BNP Paribas and UBS.
The new five-year facility (with two one-year extension options at the banks' discretion) replaces the group's existing €110 million Facility (signed in April 2015). The facility will be used for general corporate purposes, primarily to cover for quarterly cash flow fluctuations within the calendar year.
Simpson Thacher represented Blackstone Real Estate Partners in connection with a debt facility for the refinancing of the senior and mezzanine facilities of its Center Parcs Europe portfolio. The Center Parcs Europe portfolio consists of seven holiday villages across Europe, located in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.
The Simpson Thacher team included Tom Lloyd, Kazik Michalski and George Ewart-Perks (Real Estate Finance).
White & Case LLP has advised Pure Safety™ in relation to the equity financing of its simultaneous acquisitions of two well-known US fall protection brands, Web Devices and Guardian Fall Protection. This acquisition establishes the PureSafety Group which aims to create a leading global fall protection business to service safety and training needs for individuals working at height.