Allen & Overy advises on up to EUR551 million financing of Fortuna Entertainment Group

Debt refinancing in the amount of up to EUR 551 million – the purpose of which was, among others, the refinancing of existing bank debt as well as raising funds for corporate and working capital purposes – was made available to nine borrowers from the Group originating from six jurisdictions. Overall, 14 entities from eight jurisdictions were involved in the financing in various roles mainly from the Czech Republic, Croatia, the Netherlands, Romania, Poland and Slovakia. The financing was closed within six weeks, which is an extremely aggressive timeline for a transaction of this type and volume. 

Commenting on the transaction, Mrs Jaroslava Hirschová, Group Chief Financial Officer at Fortuna Entertainment Group, said: “This was yet another challenging project at Fortuna delivered successfully and on time. We are proud that the banks have confirmed our fast growth track record and ambitious future plans by providing us with very competitive leverage and terms. I would like to also say special thanks to A&O team who have been there for us every step of the project.” 

Mr Marek Hvoždara, Head of Treasury and Investment Financing at Penta Investments added: “The successful and on time delivered senior secured refinancing of one of our key investments would be impossible without first class legal advice provided to us by A&O team. This refinancing is the biggest financing deal that any of our investee companies has ever completed. We are thrilled how competently and efficiently was whole process handled from A&O side, especially taking into account the aggressive timeline.” 

The A&O team working on the transaction was led by Prague-based counsel Petra Myšáková working with associates Martina Kristianová and Pavel Příhoda and junior lawyer David Bujgl. English law advice was supervised by Warsaw-based partner Dan Cocker. Partner Renátus Kollár together with counsel Matúš Kudlák and associate Petra Dzubáková were responsible for the Slovak law aspects of the financing. The Polish team was led by partner Tomasz Kawczyński working with counsel Anna Mądra and associate Maciej Wroniak. The Dutch law aspects were handled by a team led by partner Aroen Kuitenbrouwer.

Radu Tărăcilă Pădurari Retevoescu SCA acted as Romanian law counsel to the Group, while Ilej & Partners, in cooperation with Karanovic & Nikolic, advised the Group in Croatia, Athos Demetriou Associates in Cyprus, and Carey Olsen in Jersey.

The parties used Legatics, a product developed in collaboration with A&O’s tech innovation space, Fuse, to manage the CP satisfaction process across eight lenders, eight different governing laws and over 300 individual deliverables.