Milbank LLP has advised the bridge lenders and initial purchasers in the financing for the acquisition by doValue, a leading servicer of nonperforming loans in Southern Europe and listed on the Milan Stock Exchange, of FPS, the former loan servicing company of the Eurobank Group, a leading Greek bank.
In June 2020, doValue used the gross proceeds from the bridge facility agreement to fund the acquisition of FPS and to pay certain fees and expenses in connection with the acquisition. doValue subsequently issued €265 million aggregate principal amount of 5.0% Senior Secured Notes due 2025 to repay amounts outstanding under the bridge facility and to pay certain fees and expenses. The offering represents doValue’s debut high-yield international bond offering.
This transaction adds to Milbank’s bank and bond track record in Italy, which has recently included the financing of BC Partners’ public-to-private takeover bid for IMA S.p.A., the financing of Bain Capital’s acquisition of Fedrigoni and follow-on acquisitions, the financing of Carlyle’s acquisition of Forgital, Unifrutti’s debut bond issuance, the financing of Carlyle’s and Investindustrial’s acquisition of the International Design Group and the financing of Bain Capital’s acquisition of Italmatch and follow-on acquisitions.
The Milbank team was led by London Leveraged Finance/Capital Markets partners Apostolos Gkoutzinis and Miko Bradford, with special counsel Ana Grbec and associates Melanie Probst, Danielle Brown, Andrea Sorace, Jessica Savoie and Philipp Engel. The team also included New York Tax partner Andrew Walker and associate Benjamin Heller as well as London Tax partner Russell Jacobs and associate Steve Quinn.
A team of Milbank corporate and finance specialists had advised Eurobank on the sale of FPS and the related strategic agreements.