Watson, Farley & Williams (“WFW”), a leading international law firm, is pleased to announce that it has advised the Tank & Rast group (“Tank & Rast”), a leading provider of German autobahn service stations, on their refinancing.
The refinancing consists of a Senior Facility, Senior Second Lien High Yield bond and a PIK facility.
Watson, Farley & Williams has advised the Région Rhône-Alpes’ local authority, located in the south-east of France (région lyonnaise), on its issue of €1 billion worth of Euro Medium Term Notes (EMTN). The issue took place on 16 July 2013 in the context of continued unsettled financial markets, including the further downgrading of France’s financial rating to AA status.
The same team assisted the Région Rhône-Alpes previously, on their first EMTN fund raising in 2012.
Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy has represented underwriters Bank of America Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan Securities in a $1 billion bond offering by Banco Nacional de Costa Rica, Costa Rica’s largest bank.
The issuance consists of two tranches: $500 million of 4.875% senior notes due 2018, and $500 million of 6.250% senior notes due 2023.
Banco Nacional is wholly owned by the Costa Rican government and is the country’s leading bank as measured by total assets, loans, and deposits.
Ashurst acted as international counsel for Salamander Energy on its issuance of US$150 million unsecured bonds. The bonds have a term of six years and one month and will be repaid as a bullet at maturity. The bonds carry a coupon of 9.75 per cent and are issued at par. An application will be made to list the bonds on the Nordic ABM or the Oslo Stock Exchange.
Herbert Smith Freehills has advised Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (ICBC) on its RMB2 billion (US$328.5 million) yuan-denominated dim sum bond issuance in London.
ICBC, China's largest lender by assets, offered the bonds in two tranches—one for 1.3 billion yuan, with a three-year maturity and a 3.35 percent coupon, and the other at 700 million yuan with a five-year maturity and a 3.75 percent coupon.
Mayer Brown has advised Fincantieri S.p.A., one of the world's largest shipbuilding groups, on its inaugural offering of €300 million 3.75% Notes due 2018. The Notes were admitted to trading on the regulated market of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.
Banca IMI, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, JP Morgan, Mediobanca and UniCredit acted as joint lead managers in respect of the offering of the Notes.
The Mayer Brown capital markets team was led by partners James Taylor and Bernd Bohr, who were assisted by associates Simon Allison and Mani Teherani.
Mayer Brown, a leading global law firm, represented Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Bank of America Merrill Lynch as the underwriters on a $450 million Rule 144A/Regulation S bond offering of airline ticket receivables of the Chile-based LATAM Airlines Group S.A., Latin America’s largest airline and one of the largest airlines in the world in terms of passengers and cargo transported. The transaction marks the first securitization of airline ticket receivables in Latin America since 2002.
Simmons & Simmons has advised Barclays, BofA Merrill Lynch and HSBC as joint dealer managers on a tender offer by RL Finance Bonds plc in respect of its £400m Upper Tier 2 Notes and as joint lead managers on a £400m new issue of Solvency II-compliant Tier 2 Notes by RL Finance No. 2 plc, which are guaranteed on a subordinated basis by The Royal London Mutual Insurance Society Limited, the UK’s largest mutual life and pensions company.
Clifford Chance has advised multinational Rockwood Holdings Inc on its joint venture with China's Chengdu Tianqi Industry Group, that will give Rockwood a 49% ownership interest and Tianqi a 51% interest in Australia's Talison Lithium Ltd.
Talison is a global producer of lithium that mines and processes lithium-bearing minerals at its operations in Western Australia.
Rockwood Holdings, Inc., headquartered in New Jersey, USA, is a specialty chemicals and advanced materials company with approximately 10,200 employees in more than 20 countries worldwide.
Kirkland & Ellis International LLP represented Edcon Holdings Limited, the parent company of the Edcon Group, in connection with the offering of €425 million of 13.375% senior notes due 2019 and the tender offer for €378 million of its senior notes due 2015. The notes offering closed and the tender offer results were announced on Nov. 14, 2013.