Empik Restructuring

EMPIK Media & Fashion (June 2016)

A&O advised Bank Polska Kasa Opieki, Bank Zachodni WBK, PZU FIZ AN BIS 1, RBS Bank (Polska), The Royal Bank of Scotland plc and Raiffeisen Bank Polska (together, the Financiers) on restructuring Empik Media & Fashion and its Group’s (EM&F) financial indebtedness. A&O had advised the Financiers since the beginning of the transaction in 2014 and secured a successful final outcome where A&O’s clients were fully repaid in 2016.

A&O advised the Financiers on all aspects of the transaction, including working out the final restructuring solution, which was reflected in the Polish law-governed Common Terms Agreement executed on 20 November 2014. Under the Common Terms Agreement, the parties agreed to introduce common terms for all underlying debt documents and to extend the original maturity set out in those documents. According to the agreed restructuring structure, the Company issued new bonds and obtained shareholders’ loans. The relationship between the financiers, bondholders and shareholders was documented in the English law-governed Intercreditor Agreement. 

“Poland has joined mature European economies in the ability to structure complex financial transactions”

Tomasz Kawczyński (Partner, Warsaw) commented: “The complexity of the EMF Group restructuring, the breadth of the corporate group, the number of jurisdictions involved and the fact that the restructuring structure ultimately led to the final repayment of full exposures of all the creditors indicate that Poland has joined mature European economies in the ability to structure complex financial transactions. The bulk of the transaction was structured under Polish law by adapting solutions previously tested in jurisdictions such as England. This would not be possible to achieve without the combination of the global reach and local depth of the advisory teams involved.” 

The A&O Team

The restructuring involved teams from the Warsaw and London offices.

The Warsaw restructuring team was led by partner Tomasz Kawczyński, assisted by counsel Tomasz Trocki and associates Jerzy Zdrojewski, Anna Polz, Natalia Ornass and Katarzyna Idczak.

The Warsaw team was supported by London senior associate, Tammy Dickenson.