Clifford Chance advises Mandated Lead Arrangers on financing for £6.8 billion acquisition of ASDA

16 February 2021

Jim MacHale, Peter Dahlen, David Robson, , Neil Cavanagh, Arpan Bhatt, , , , Yana Papst, Franc Peña, Alice Raine, , Anne Drakeford, Katy Parkes, , , Michael Dakin, , Alistair Woodland, Jennifer Storey
London

Clifford Chance advises Mandated Lead Arrangers on financing for £6.8 billion acquisition of ASDA

International law firm Clifford Chance advised the mandated lead arrangers in relation to the financing for the £6.8 billion acquisition of ASDA Group Limited by the Issa brothers, founders and co-CEOs of EG Group, and TDR Capital LLP, a leading UK-based private equity firm. The acquisition closed on 16 February 2021 and the financing involved £935 million (equivalent) term loans, a £2.25 billion senior secured bond (each backed by ASDA's extensive property portfolio) and a £500 million unsecured bond. The financing also includes £1.7 billion of bridge facilities, relating to the proposed sale-and-leaseback of warehouse and certain retail assets and the sale of the forecourt business to EG Group, which Clifford Chance advised the lenders on.

The transaction was well received by market-participants, with a highly successful syndication of the term loan and a bond offering which is the largest sterling deal and largest single-tranche deal in any currency yet seen in the European high-yield bond space.

Clifford Chance, working with a team from Cravath, Swaine & Moore led by George Stephanakis, represented the mandated lead arrangers on all aspects of the financing, involving groups across the London office in a truly cross-practice effort involving finance, real estate, derivatives, tax, antitrust, capital markets, corporate, funds and employment. The transaction's market leading aspects and structural complexities benefitted from Clifford Chance's breadth of expertise.

The team was led by finance partners Jim MacHale, Peter Dahlen and David Robson working with Emily James, Neil Cavanagh, Arpan Bhatt, Chloe Smith, Thea Vukasinovic, Eleanor Davies, Yana Papst, Luke Forryan, Tom Williamson and Andrew Kernaghan (Finance), Franc Pena, Alice Raine, Sophie Romain and Ben Cooper (Real Estate), Anne Drakeford, Katy Parkes and Jessica White (Derivatives), Dan Neidle and Ted Meddick-Dyson (Tax), Michael Dakin and Kelly Frevele (Capital Markets), Alistair Woodland (Employment) and Jennifer Storey (Antitrust).