Linklaters advised Barry Callebaut, the leading global manufacturer of top-quality cocoa and chocolate products with registered office in Switzerland, in relation to the offering of a US$400m high yield bond and a CHF 279m capital increase. The high yield bond has a term of ten years and a fixed coupon of 5.5 per cent and was also offered to U.S. investors. The bond traded in the Euro MTF market of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange was issued through a Belgian subsidiary and guaranteed both by the parent listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange and by major subsidiaries of the Zurich chocolate manufacturer.

The high yield bond and the capital increase were used to finance the acquisition of the Cocoa Ingredients Division from Petra Foods in Singapore, which had been announced in December last year. The US$860m acquisition was closed successfully on 30 June 2013.

The acquisition resulted in a company with more than 8,000 employees, an estimated sales volume of 1.6 million tons p.a. and a turnover of about US$6.3 billion p.a. Furthermore, Barry Callebaut extended its worldwide presence to 50 plants on four continents.

Barry Callebaut was advised by a Linklaters team led by Dr Marco G. Carbonare (Capital Markets, Frankfurt). Other team members included Michal Hlásek (Banking, Frankfurt), Ben Dulieu (Capital Markets, London), David Ballegeer (Banking, Brussels), Cyril Abtan (Banking, Paris), William Cresswell, Charles Eypper (both Capital Markets, Frankfurt), Tom Shingler (Banking, Frankfurt), Aymeric de Mol (Capital Markets, Paris), Francis Wijnakker (Banking, Brussels) and Maxime Le Bivic (Banking, Paris).

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