CC teams with German partners on €300m high-yield debt issue

The company, a longstanding client for Clifford Chance, was on the receiving end of one of the biggest bailouts in German ­corporate history in 2009 when the government put ­together an e850m deal.

German banking partner Markus Pfüller led the Clifford Chance team on the €300m high-yield offering, along with London high-yield partner Michael Dakin, who rejoined the firm last year.
Relationship partner Sebastian Maerker also acted on the transaction, while fellow banking partner Dietrich Stiller acted separately on arranging a new bank facility.

Cravath Swaine & Moore and Hengeler Mueller advised the banks, which were led by Deutsche Bank, on the bond issue. London managing partner Philip Boeckman led for Cravath, while Munich corporate partners Achim Herfs and Daniel Wiegand took the lead for the German firm.

White & Case Munich banking partner Leïla M Röder acted for the banks on the refinancing of the remaining e500m facility.

“What’s interesting is the move towards German law-governed high-yield,” said Dakin. “These guys relied on banks for their financing before, but now they need to find other sources of ­capital. We’re going to see a lot more of this coming out of Germany.”

A change in local ­legislation last year allowed high-yield bonds to be issued under German law. Previously, all such bonds would have been US-governed.