Hogan Lovells and Travers Smith have won the lead roles on a debt refinancing deal for thetrainline.com which has seen the UK ticketing website raise a £190m loan.

Private equity group Exponent, which owns thetrainline.com, carried out a refinancing process which increases the company's debt to permit a payout, just over a year after shelving plans to sell the website.

The deal comprised a £140m unitranche facility backed by investment firms Ares Management and Babson Capital as well as credit fund manager Bluebay Asset Management and the Bank of Ireland, and a £50m revolving credit facility provided by Barclays and HSBC.

Hogan Lovells banking partner Stuart Brinkworth (pictured) led the team acting for the lenders, while banking partner Matthew Cottis advised Barclays and HSBC.

Meanwhile, Travers advised Exponent and thetrainline.com with a team headed up by M&A finance partner Ben Davis.

Brinkworth said: "We are very pleased to have been instructed on what was one of the biggest and most complicated unitranche transactions seen in the European mid-market so far this year.

"We have worked on a high percentage of the unitranche deals seen in the market this year and this deal certainly cements the market's view of our expertise in this area."

Exponent bought thetrainline.com in 2006 in a £163m acquisition from a consortium that included Virgin Holdings, Virgin Rail Group and National Express Trains. Travers Smith senior partner Chris Hale, then head of corporate at the firm, advised Exponent while Herbert Smith, now known as Herbert Smith Freehills, acted for the sellers.