HeidelbergCement AG on 28 July 2015 announced the acquisition of 45% in Italcementi S.p.A. from Italmobiliare S.p.A. and a subsequent mandatory public offer to the remaining shareholders of Italcementi S.p.A. The acquisition is subject to, inter alia, approval by the competition authorities and is expected to take place during 2016.

The financing of the acquisition has been secured through a bridge financing provided by a bank consortium.

Gerresheimer AG, one of the leading partners to the pharma and healthcare industry worldwide, has reached an agreement with Nemera Development S.A. to acquire 100% of the share capital of Centor US Holding Inc. The purchase price amounts to USD725m on a cash free and debt free basis and will be fully debt financed. Centor is a leading manufacturer of plastic vials and closures for oral drugs in the US prescription retail market.

Linklaters advised the financing banks (Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley) on the €4.4 billion bridge financing of HeidelbergCement AG which the company needed for the public takeover of Italcementi S.p.A.

The takeover will be initiated by acquiring the 45% stake  Italmobiliare S.p.A. possesses in Italcementi S.p.A., which is listed in the Milan stock exchange, followed by a public takeover offer.

King & Wood Mallesons has advised Deutsche Bank AG, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg and UniCredit Bank AG as arrangers on the syndicated financing of GFT Technologies AG, a  listed corporation. The syndicate comprised of Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A., Baden-Württembergische Bank and UniCredit Luxembourg S.A. provides syndicated financing to the Stuttgart based company with a five-year term and an increase option.

BPER Banca working in syndicate with MPS Capital Services concluded a loan agreement for up to EUR 20.5 million to support development of the International School of Europe (ISE), a network leader in Italy in language training owned by the private equity fund H.I.G. Capital

The agreement shall allow ISE to fund its ambitious plan for expansion on the Italian market.

In the transaction NCTM – with a team consisting of Eugenio Siragusa and Pietro Zanoni – acted as ISE’s legal advisor.

Ashurst advised the bank consortium in connection with increase of the existing credit facilities of Schustermann & Borenstein group. The consortium comprised Bremer Kreditbank AG, DZ Bank AG Deutsche Zentral-Genossenschaftsbank, Frankfurt am Main, HSH Nordbank AG, IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG, ING Bank, Raiffeisen Bank International AG and UniCredit Bank AG. Schustermann & Borenstein is a portfolio company of private equity firm ARDIAN (formerly AXA Private Equity).

Setterwalls has assisted Bulten AB (publ) in connection with the refinancing of credit facilities amounting to SEK nut400,000,000. The transaction closed in July 2015. Setterwalls' team consisted primarily of Jesper Kuschel (Partner) and Emily Ashton (Associate).

Simpson Thacher represented New Look Secured Issuer plc in connection with its offering of £700 million aggregate principal amount of 6.5% Senior Secured Notes due 2022 and €415 million aggregate principal amount of Floating Rate Senior Secured Notes due 2022 and New Look Senior Issuer plc in connection with its offering of £200 million aggregate principal amount of 8% Senior Notes due 2023.

Ashurst advised Candover Investments plc, a London listed private equity investment trust, on €52m loan facilities provided by 17Capital LLP. The loan facilities will be used to refinance Candover's existing US private placement notes and to meet its ongoing working capital requirements.

The Ashurst banking team was led by partner Nicholas Moore, assisted by counsel Navdeep Benning. Ashurst corporate partner, Bruce Hanton, advised on the corporate aspects of the transaction.

King & Wood Mallesons advised Deutsche Bank AG as Mandated Lead Arranger in relation to a syndicated facilities agreement for Onlineprinters Group. The syndicated financing has a five-year term and is being made available by a consortium of three banks.