Norton Rose Fulbright has advised the Joyou group in connection with a USD300m loan facility agreement (approximately €223.4m) arranged by a consortium of Japanese banks consisting of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and Mizuho Bank.

The loan facility agreement was provided under English law. The borrower is the Joyou group company Hong Kong Zhongyu Sanitary Technology based in Hong Kong. Guarantors are the German parent company of the group, Joyou AG, and Chinese subsidiaries.

One tranche of USD150m will be used for further investments in production facilities. Another tranche in the same amount will be used for the early repayment of existing loan liabilities.

Norton Rose Fulbright advised the Joyou group companies and their management bodies in all aspects of corporate, finance and supervisory issues during the transaction. This included advice in relation to the requirements under Chinese law concerning the transfer of loan amounts from Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China, where Joyou group has its operational headquarters through various subsidiaries. Norton Rose Fulbright also advised the Joyou group in all refinancing negotiations.

Joyou AG is listed in the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and a leading manufacturer and supplier of bathroom fixtures and fittings in China, the company’s home market. Major shareholder of Joyou group is German Grohe group with 72.3 percent, which was acquired by Japanese LIXIL group in January 2014.

The Norton Rose Fulbright team was led by Peter Holst (of counsel, corporate) and Anthony Morton (partner, banking and finance), supported by Timo Spitzer, Lenka Petrencikova (both banking and finance), all Frankfurt, Surbhi Malhotra, Mark Maurice (both banking and finance) and Hengliang Shen (corporate), all Munich.

The transaction also involved further teams in:

Hong Kong: Davide Barzilai (partner, banking and finance) and Stanley Lai (partner, corporate), supported by Michelle Bao, Rick Wei (both banking and finance) and Marco Cheng (corporate).

Beijing: Jinnan Li (partner, banking and finance) and Jing Wang (partner, corporate), assisted by Dean Bao and Duan Cui (both banking and finance).

Tokyo: Chris Viner (partner) and Mayuko Sakai (both corporate).