Simmons & Simmons has advised Marlin Financial Group Limited on the issuance of its £150 million Reg S/144A high yield senior secured bonds and entry into a £25 million new revolving credit facility.

The issuance will enable Marlin Financial, one of the leading purchasers of defaulted consumer debt in the United Kingdom, to refinance the company’s existing indebtedness and fund future debt purchase transactions. Marlin Financial is a portfolio company of Duke Street.

J.P. Morgan Securities plc and Investec Bank plc were joint book-running managers on the bond issuance and are mandated lead arrangers and lenders under the new revolving credit facility. Investec Bank plc is also the facility agent under the new revolving credit facility.

The bonds will be listed on the Official List of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and admitted to trading on the Euro MTF Market.

The Simmons & Simmons team was led by Capital Markets partner Charles Hawes, Structured Finance partner Rich Hughes, US Securities associate Tara L. Waters, and Banking associate Jessica Foong.

Commenting on the transaction, Charles Hawes said: “It has been a pleasure working with Marlin Financial on its debut bond issue - we are increasingly seeing companies interested in exploring bond issuance as a way to refinance bank debt and fund growth. At Simmons & Simmons, our integrated US securities, capital markets and banking offering means that we are well-positioned to guide issuers through the process”.

Rich Hughes added: “We were delighted to work on such an important deal for Marlin Financial. Simmons & Simmons has great capabilities in structured finance, with English and US capacity, and regulatory work, so this was a deal that played to our strengths.”

http://www.simmons-simmons.com/en/News/2013/07-Jul/S-and-S-Advises-Marl…