French dairy group Lactalis has drawn in 12 banks for a €7.5bn facility to acquire its once scandal-hit Italian rival Parmalat.
The funds will also go towards refinancing several of Lactalis’s existing credit lines.
Credit Agricole, HSBC, Natixis and Société Générale are bookrunners and mandated lead arrangers for the deal.
The borrower under the facilities is BSA Finances, which is also acting as guarantor.
The loan is split into five separate tranches; a €1.65bn one-year loan with a six-month term out option; a €1bn two-year term loan; a €750mn three-year term loan with two one-year extension options; a €3bn five-year amortising loan and finally a €1.1bn five-year multi-currency revolving credit facility.
BNP Paribas, BBVA, BTMU, CIC, Commerzbank, Mediobanca, Rabobank, ING, Mizuho Corporate Bank, Scotiabank, SMBC and WestLB also join the deal.
Syndication was launched back in May 2011, with ticket sizes of €300mn and €600mn.
“The acquisition of a majority stake in Parmalat heralds the emergence of a ‘new Lactalis group’,” the firm says in a statement.
The acquisition will see the Lactalis group increase turnover by more than €10bn to almost €15bn.Parmalat collapsed in 2003 with €14bn of debts and the firm’s chief executive Calisto Tanzi was sentenced to 18 years in prison for fraudulent bankruptcy and criminal association.
The Parmalat trademark was eventually bailed out by the Berlusconi government.
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