Proskauer represented Boparan Holdings Ltd. (Boparan), one of the leading food suppliers in the UK, in the issue by Boparan Finance PLC of £400 million of its 9 7/8% senior notes due 2018 and  €340 million of its 9 ¾% senior notes due 2018. The approximately $1.04 billion offering is one of the largest European high-yield bond issues in 2011.

 

The notes were issued to finance Boparan’s acquisition of Northern Foods PLC, another leading UK food manufacturer, repay existing debt and fund certain payments in connection with Northern Foods’ pension plans.

 

This is the latest European high-yield bond deal the firm has completed, following the recent representation of Grifols S.A., a global health care company, in a $1.1 billion bond issue. Proskauer’s Global Capital Markets Group has closed two of the three largest high-yield deals by first-time issuers in Europe in 2011, and was ranked by Bloomberg in Q1 2011 in the top five in the world by volume for European high-yield bond issuers (excluding Emerging Markets). 

 

The Proskauer team in New York and London representing Boparan was led by Partner Justin Breen and also included Partner Amanda H. Nussbaum (Tax) and Corporate Department Associates Stephen P. Gruberg, Erin L. Fogarty, Andrew R. Shapiro, Joshua A. Sabloff and Kathleen E. Lange in New York, and Partner Jennifer C. Wheater (Tax) and Associates Peta-Ann Barrow (Labor & Employment) and Nicholas Vasquez (Corporate) in London.

 

Proskauer’s Capital Markets Group is one of the premier practices in the U.S., representing investment banks, sponsors, issuers and institutional investors. The practice has experienced dramatic growth over the last four years, with a presence in New York, Los Angeles, São Paulo, Hong Kong and London. The group is recognized in Chambers USA, US Legal 500 and Chambers Global, and has achieved top rankings in Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters’ league tables for both underwriters and issuer-side representation in debt and equity transactions.