International law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised the co-ordinating committee and ad-hoc working group representing senior lenders on the £1bn recapitalisation of the Biffa Group. Biffa is a leading nationwide integrated waste management business.
The High Court approved a UK scheme of arrangement on Monday which enabled the recapitalisation announced by the company on 29 November 2012 to be successfully implemented. All senior and junior secured creditors voted to approve the scheme of arrangement.
The recapitalisation will see Biffa’s secured debt reduced by more than 55% and the injection of £75m of new money. This new money enables the company to implement its planned investment programme of over £250m in the group over the next five years.
Freshfields finance partners Adam Gallagher and Sean Lacey and corporate partner Gareth Stephenson led the cross-practice Freshfields team.
The deal adds to Freshfields’ reputation as the market’s leading adviser on schemes of arrangement in the UK and throughout Europe. Last month, the firm advised an ad hoc group of noteholders on the first-ever use of an English scheme of arrangement to reschedule a CMBS transaction – Deutsche Annington’s GRAND portfolio, Europe’s largest CMBS securitisation, valued at over €9bn and including nearly 200,000 properties in Germany.
