Milbank Advises on Series of Inaugural Bond Offerings for ION Group Portfolio Companies

Milbank LLP advised three portfolio companies of ION Investment Corporation S.à r.l. and its subsidiaries (the “ION Group”) on accessing the US and international bond markets for the first time. In addition, Milbank LLP advised the ION Group in connection with the financing for the acquisition of the Cedacri group, which will represent the ION Group’s fourth investment silo. The four bond offerings were executed substantially on the same timetable and involved different businesses, management teams and lead bookrunners, all working together with the Milbank team to deliver four consecutive successful debut offerings for the ION Group:

• Helios Software Holdings, Inc. and ION Corporate Solutions Finance S.à r.l. (collectively, “ION Corporates”) were the first to market, issuing  $350 million 4.625% Senior Notes due 2028 on April 30, 2021, for refinancing and general corporate purposes. ION Corporates is an industry-leading global technology company that provides mission-critical software, data and analytics for the treasury management and commodities operations of businesses around the world.
• ION Trading Technologies S.à r.l. (“ION Markets”) followed with its issuance of $450 million 5.750% Senior Secured Notes due 2028 on May 7, 2021, to fund the acquisition of DASH Financial Technologies, the leading algorithm-based, electronic technology and execution provider for options in the United States. ION Markets is an industry-leading global technology company that provides mission-critical software, data and analytics for the trading operations of financial market participants around the world. It provides real-time market data and connectivity to over 480 venues through more than 50 data centers, covering six major financial asset classes, with its software allowing customers to automate the complete trade life cycle on a single platform.
• Acuris Finance S.à r.l. and Acuris Finance US, Inc (collectively, “ION Analytics”) completed the trifecta of offerings by the existing ION Group entities with its issuance of $350 million 5.000% Senior Secured Notes due 2028 on May 13, 2021, for refinancing and general corporate purposes. ION Analytics is an industry-leading global data, content and technology company combining two prominent names in capital markets data, content and intelligence: Dealogic and Acuris. Widely recognized across the capital markets, it develops and provides mission-critical proprietary analytics and insights, through integrated data and workflow software, to thousands of participants in the global financial markets, including investors, issuers, investment banks and legal and other advisors. Some of its well-known products and brands include Mergermarket, Debtwire, Xtract Research, Creditflux and the Dealogic platform.
• Cedacri Mergeco S.p.A. (the “Cedacri Issuer”) issued €650 million Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes due 2028 on May 28, 2021, for the purposes of financing the acquisition of Cedacri S.p.A. (“Cedacri”), the refinancing of Cedacri’s existing indebtedness and transaction fees and expenses. In addition, the Milbank team advised the Cedacri Issuer in connection with its new Revolving Credit Facility Agreement. Cedacri is an industry-leading technology company that is fully dedicated to providing core banking software, digital infrastructure, solutions and other IT services predominantly to the Italian market. It plays a systemic role within the Italian banking sector, providing outsourced core banking IT services and operations to banks, and is Italy’s third largest banking platform (based on the number of branches served).

The ION Group is a permanent capital investment holding company with $25+ billion in equity investments in financial technology companies focused on software and data to digitize and automate mission-critical workflows.

The Milbank team was led by European Leveraged Finance/Capital Markets partners Apostolos Gkoutzinis, Rebecca Marques and Randy Nahle, special counsels Ana Grbec, Joji Ozawa and Trevor Truman, associates Varun Natteri Mangadu, Iakovos Anagnostopoulos, Anish Mohanty, Andrea Sorace, Lefteris Dafermos, Michele Scansani, Panos Tsezos, and paralegal Panos Apostolidis. European Leveraged Finance/Capital Markets partner Sarbajeet Nag and associates Karen Chen, Bernardo Zang and Bie Cookey advised the Cedacri Issuer on its new Revolving Credit Facility. White & Case LLP represented the bookrunners and initial purchasers on each of the offerings.