December.05.2013
Orrick has advised Ampliter N.V. on its successful €135 million fundraising through a placement of exchangeable bonds listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange with leading international investors. This transaction follows the firm's recent representation of Millicom on two high yield bond issuances.
Ampliter N.V., a wholly owned subsidiary of Amplifin S.p.A., is a Dutch holding company, with a 54.3% stake in Amplifon S.p.A. as its sole financial investment. Amplifon S.p.A., listed on the STAR segment and a member of the FTSE Italia Mid Cap Index of the Milan Stock Exchange, is a leader in the distribution and fitting of hearing aids and related services. Orrick has a longstanding relationship with the Amplifin Group.
The bonds are exchangeable for shares of Amplifon. The issuer of the bonds is not a trading company itself and there were no guarantees given by other trading companies. The obligations of the issuer were secured by a pledge over the shares of Amplifon which are owned by the issuer. The proceeds of the fundraising are being used within the Amplifin Group (Amplifon excluded) to repay indebtedness.
2013 has shown strong demand from the investor community for high quality European bond offerings and we are expecting even higher volumes for 2014.
BNP Paribas and a Multinational Investment Bank (Germany) served as the joint bookrunners on the transaction and were advised by Linklaters LLP.
The cross-border Orrick team was led by corporate senior counsel Luigi Colombo and corporate partner Jinal Shah and included corporate partner Guido Testa, corporate special counsel Francesco Seassaro, corporate associate Elisabetta Santo, energy and infrastructure partner Alex Janes and corporate senior associate Katie Cotton.