A&O and Latham set to advise on €8bn Italian finance deal
Allen & Overy (A&O) and Latham & Watkins have landed key advisory roles on the €8bn (£7.1bn) financing of Italian power company Enel's acquisition of Acciona's 25% stake in Spanish utility company Endesa. The financing, which is one of the largest in Europe so far this year, sees A&O advising the consortium of arranging banks, with Latham advising Enel. The deal, which saw Enel acquire the stake for around €11bn (£9.8bn) in total, comes after both firms advised on Enel and Acciona's initial €35bn (£31bn) acquisition of Endesa in 2007. Enel will now hold a 92.06% stake in Endesa.
March 11, 2009 at 10:43 PM
3 minute read
Four leading firms advise on innovative deal finance mandate
Allen & Overy (A&O) and Latham & Watkins have landed key advisory roles on the €8bn (£7.1bn) financing of Italian power company Enel's acquisition of Acciona's 25% stake in Spanish utility company Endesa.
The financing, which is one of the largest in Europe so far this year, sees A&O advising the consortium of arranging banks, with Latham advising Enel.
The deal, which saw Enel acquire the stake for around €11bn (£9.8bn) in total, comes after both firms advised on Enel and Acciona's initial €35bn (£31bn) acquisition of Endesa in 2007. Enel will now hold a 92.06% stake in Endesa.
A&O banking co-managing partner Stephen Kensell took the lead role for the banks, which included Mediobanca, Santander and BBVA. The firm's team also included Milan debt capital markets partner Stefano Sennhauser and Madrid managing partner Inigo Gomez-Jordana.
Latham fielded a team for longstanding client Enel led by London banking partner Dominic Newcomb and Milan corporate finance partner Michael Immordino.
Spanish leader Cuatrecasas Goncalves Pereira has been acting as corporate adviser to Enel, while Uria Menendez was drafted in to advise Acciona on the sale.
The financing includes a forward start facility, which effectively extends the maturity of the latest lending package – pushing back the payment deadline beyond the final maturity of the financing of the original acquisition.
Kensell told Legal Week: "The scale of this financing, and its use of a forward start mechanism, shows the ability of the bank market to adapt to tough conditions by developing new techniques."
The technique emerged last year as a result of the financial crisis and Enel's facilities are among the biggest to date. However, opinion suggests it will become far more frequent.
Norton Rose banking partner James Dunnett said: "[Forward start deals] are good for the banking industry. They benefit the borrowers because it gives certainty over their future funding and it is good for the banks because they get an increase in fees and can lock in a higher rate of margin."
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