Ropes & Gray Advises Samsonite on its First Ever European High Yield Bond Offering

In The News
April 26, 2018

Ropes & Gray has advised Samsonite on its first ever European high yield offering, involving the issuance of €350 million 3.5% Senior Notes due 2026, alongside the syndication and allocation of US$2.143bn of new senior credit facilities.  The structuring of the financing and the related refinancing of the credit facilities provides Samsonite with the flexibility to access the European term loan market in the future. 

A cross-border team from Ropes & Gray’s London and New York offices advised on the deal. The London team was led by finance partners Michael Kazakevich and Benoit Lavigne, supported by counsel Alexandru Mocanu and associate Clara Melly. The New York bank finance team was led by partner Stefanie Birkmann, alongside counsel Patricia Teixeira and associate Kavita DeVaney. Tax advice was provided by partner David Saltzman and counsel Sara Clevering, both based in Boston. 

Michael Kazakevich, global co-head of finance at Ropes & Gray, said: “The fact that this deal was multiple times oversubscribed continues to show that there is still significant appetite for good businesses with great management and steady cash flows.  The market continues to be receptive to quality issuers and we were grateful to be relied upon by Samsonite to execute this transatlantic transaction.” 

He added: “This financing demonstrates Ropes & Gray’s ability to deliver for our clients by seamlessly coordinating between our teams in London and New York and underscores the strength and continued growth and maturation of Ropes & Gray’s London finance practice, and the high yield team in particular.  Samsonite is a new client for the London office and this deal builds on the momentum created by our issuer-side high yield mandates from Altice, Liberty Global and Hellman & Friedman, alongside several recent underwriter-side mandates.” 

John Livingston, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Samsonite, said: “We are very pleased with this most recent transaction that created a truly flexible transatlantic capital structure that reflects the global nature of our business. We have historically trusted Ropes & Gray with our bank financings in the US and this deal presented a great opportunity to get to know their London team, which perfectly complemented the strengths of their US finance and capital markets practice.”