A team from the New York and London offices of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP advised CHC Group Ltd. (“CHC”) (NYSE: HELI), a portfolio investment of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (“CD&R”), in connection with a $145 million asset-based loan (“ABL”) revolving credit facility. The ABL facility is the first financing of its kind by a helicopter operator. Proceeds of the facility will be used to finance the acquisition of helicopters and certain related equipment.

Macfarlanes has advised private equity firm 17Capital on €52m loan facilities provided to Candover Investments, a listed investment trust focusing on the energy, industrials and services sectors.

The loan will be used to refinance existing private placement notes.

The Macfarlanes team was led by finance partner Richard Fletcher who comments "we are pleased to continue to strengthen our relationship with 17Capital by advising it on this important investment".

Ashurst advised US financial investor AP Capital Investments ("APCI") on the acquisition and the financing of a participation in PlanetHome AG ("PlanetHome"). The shares in the Munich-based real estate service provider were sold by HypoVereinsbank (UniCredit Bank AG). The financing was provided by a credit fund. The parties agreed not to disclose the purchase price.

PlanetHome is focused on the brokerage of residential property and mortgage loans in Germany and Austria.

We advised Ahlstrom Corporation in the refinancing of its revolving credit facility totalling EUR 200 million (initially EUR 250 million). The new EUR 180 million three-year revolving credit facility includes two 12-month extension options for Ahlstrom Corporation, subject to the consent of the participating banks.

The banks acting as mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners are BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, Nordea, Pohjola, SEB and Swedbank. Pohjola acts as the agent and Swedbank as the documentation agent.

Dufry AG (Dufry), a Swiss corporation listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange, announced that it has entered into a binding agreement with Edizione S.r.l. to acquire Edizione's 50.1% stake in Italian based World Duty Free S.p.A. (WDF) for EUR 10.25 per share in cash, implying an enterprise value of WDF of EUR 3.6 billion (CHF 3.8 billion). Following completion of the acquisition of Edizione's stake in WDF, Dufry will launch a mandatory tender offer for the remaining 49.9% of WDF's outstanding shares for EUR 10.25 per share in cash.

Slaughter and May advised Ocado Group plc (Ocado) on the amendment and extension of its existing unsecured revolving credit facility. The facility was increased from £100 million to £210 million and extended by two years, to 1 July 2019. The amendments also included improved pricing and increased covenant headroom. The participating banks are Abbey National Treasury Services Plc, Barclays Bank PLC, HSBC Bank plc and The Royal Bank of Scotland plc.

CONTACTS

Financing: Matthew Tobin (partner), David Hay (associate), Emily Stratten (associate)

White & Case LLP has advised the syndicate of banks led by Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Société Générale on the initial public offering of Europcar on the regulated market of Euronext Paris, initiated by its principal shareholder, Eurazeo.

Enterprise Ventures, which specialises in providing finance for small businesses, has launched a new private capital loan fund with £40m backing from Santander UK plc and Greater Manchester Pension Fund.

Enterprise Ventures SME Loans will provide up to £1m to help small firms fuel growth. The loans will be available to established and ambitious SMEs in all sectors and in all areas of the UK, building on Enterprise Ventures’ strongholds in the North West and Yorkshire and Humberside.

Ashurst advised HSBC Bank, Lloyds Bank, The Royal Bank of Scotland, Abbey National Treasury Services and Barclays Bank as lenders on a £380 million revolving facility agreement provided to Kier Group plc - a property, residential, construction and services group - which was used in connection with the acquisition of MRBL Limited, the holding company of the Mouchel group, an international infrastructure and business services group.

The Ashurst team was led by banking partner Tim Rennie assisted by associate Andrea Thomas.

Norton Rose Fulbright has advised Lantmännen on the SEK2.5 billion financing of its acquisition of Vaasan Group, arranged by Swedbank.

Lantmännen is one of the largest groups within food, bio-energy and agriculture in the Nordic region with an annual turnover of approximately SEK33 billion. The VAASAN Group is one of the most significant bakery operators in Northern Europe as the leading bakery company in Finland and the Baltic region. The acquisition makes the combined group one of the largest food and agri-groups in the Nordic and Baltic countries.