Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance advises Greenhill, HSBC, Goodbody, Jefferies and Rabobank on Greencore £439 million rights issue

International law firm Clifford Chance has advised Greenhill and HSBC as joint sponsors, and HSBC, Goodbody, Jefferies and Rabobank as underwriters, on Greencore's £439 million rights issue to fund part of the consideration for its US$747 million acquisition of Peacock Foods, the fast-growing US convenience food manufacturer.

The deal is set to accelerate Greencore, who supply a number of customer own-label ranges, as well as some of the UK's best loved brands such as Heinz and Bisto, towards its vision to become a fast-growing, international convenience food leader.

Partners Simon Thomas and John Connolly led the Clifford Chance team advising the sponsors and underwriters, assisted by senior associates Ben Morgan and Kama Ostoya, and associate Manav Melwani.

Simon Thomas and John Connolly previously acted for the underwriters on Greencore's 2011 rights issue to fund part of the consideration for its acquisition of Uniq plc.

"It has been a pleasure once again to work with the underwriters to help fund the next stage of Greencore's development", said Capital Markets partner Simon Thomas. "Against a backdrop of relatively challenging market conditions, the Equity Capital Markets team at Clifford Chance has remained busy throughout the year, advising a range of clients on high profile transactions."

Transactions on which the Clifford Chance Equity Capital Markets team advised in 2016 include the successful IPOs of Biffa, Ascential, Metro Bank and CYBG, the step-up listing of Secure Trust Bank, the postponed IPOs of Pure Gym and TI Fluid Systems, and Informa's £715 million rights issue in connection with its £1.2 billion acquisition of US publisher, Penton.