Dealmakers

UK: slice of the action

London-based international law firm Olswang advised the management team of restaurant chain Pizza Hut on the sale of its dine-in business to specialist restructuring investor Rutland partners.
The deal sees Rutland acquire the share capital of Pizza Hut – which owns 330 restaurants in the UK – meaning the chain will now operate under a franchise agreement from Yum! Brands, the global owner of the Pizza Hut brand. In return, Rutland will invest £20 million towards a planned £60m refurbishment and restructuring programme of the business.
The Olswang team was led by head of private equity Stephen Rosen and corporate senior associate Carsten Greve.

Brazil: Dutch connections

Dutch offshore service provider SBM Offshore was advised by New York-headquartered law firm Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy in a $500 million debt offering, the largest cross-border private placement in Brazil.
The 15-year bond was placed by a group of 16 international institutional investors.
SBM – which claims to be the world’s largest floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) company – intends to use the funds to refurbish a large vessel christened Cidade de Anchieta which will operate under a long-term lease and contract with Brazil’s state energy producer Petrobras.
Milbank’s team included project finance partner Daniel Bartfeld and structured finance partner Jay Grushkin.

Austria: energetic debt

Vienna-based central and eastern European law firm Wolf Theiss advised Austrian energy group KELAG on its first debt assurance programme approved in Austria.
KELAG had previously issued a corporate bond under its new €500 million issuance programme. The bond – with a total volume of €150m -- has a fixed coupon of 3.25 per cent annually and a 10 year tenor. Its €500 denomination is also expected to attract private investors. The Wolf Theiss team was led by partner Claus Schneider.

US: premium price tag

Chicago private equity firm GTCR acquired UK payment facilitation services business Premium Credit from Bank of America Merrill Lynch subsidiary MBNA Europe Bank in a deal worth a reported £1 billion.
GTCR is using the deal to recapitalise Premium Credit – a consortium that provides premium finance services to more than half of the UK’s 50 top brokers – which is led by Barclays Bank. The consortium also includes Lloyds Banking Group, Deutsche Bank, HSBC Holdings and Société Générale, all of which have committed to a long-term financing facility to support Premium Credit’s existing funding obligations and future growth.
The consortium was advised by Chicago-based law firm Sidley Austin. Kirkland & Ellis and Mayer Brown served as legal counsel to GTCR.

Germany: supplementary benefits

Munich-headquartered European business law firm Noerr advised Hanover-based bank NordLB on the financing of Adiuva Capital’s acquisition of the Ascopharm Group. Wernigerode-based Ascopharm specialises in food supplements, non-prescription medicines and cosmetics. The Noerr team was led by Frankfurt finance partner Andreas Naujoks.