Keeping Cool - Financial Restructuring of Frigoglass Finance B.V.
A&O advises on the EUR265m financial restructuring of the Frigoglass group, a commercial refrigeration manufacturer and West Africa's leading glass producer.
Frigoglass (2017)
A&O advised the UK subsidiary of a global financial institution as lender to Frigoglass Finance B.V. under a bi-lateral RCF on the EUR 265m financial restructuring of the Frigoglass group, a commercial refrigeration manufacturer and glass producer with operations across five continents.
The restructuring was implemented by a UK scheme of arrangement in respect of the bond debt (following a COMI shift), an inter-conditional and fully-consensual restructuring implementation agreement in relation to the bank debt and included the creation of a new capital structure and shareholder contributions by way of new money and a debt-to-equity conversion. The Frigoglass group operates across five continents and the complex nature of the corporate structure and security package necessitated advice from jurisdictions worldwide. In addition, the competing interest of bondholders and bank lenders required a fine balance when structuring the new money contributions and the new finance documentation. The restructuring provided flexibility for the group to operate across its numerous differing and unique markets, improved the on-going liquidity of the group and strengthened and de-levered the balance sheet, providing a more appropriate debt service profile for the group.
“Complex negotiation and implementation”
David Lines (Partner, London Restructuring) commented: “Due to the variety of the different facilities and the number of jurisdictions involved, the restructuring required a complex negotiation and implementation which at times was challenging to all stakeholders”.
The A&O team
The restructuring involved teams across the London, South Africa, Dubai, New York and Singapore offices.
The London restructuring team was led by partners David Lines, Andrew Trahair and Joel Ferguson, assisted by associates Rishi Hindocha, Matthew Gaunt, Musonda Mutati and Matthew Kimber and trainees Will Rawlinson, Harini Viswanathan and Benjamin Scrace.
The London ICM team was led by partner Matthais Baudisch, assisted by Maylea Ma.
The South African banking team was led by At van der Merwe.
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