The market will likely see more unitranche financing in the future,
Hogan Lovells has predicted. The forecast comes as the firm acted for Barings on its first ever unitranche offer in Australia.
“The deal is significant for the Australian financing market given the novel nature of the unitranche/super senior structures. Unitranche structures comprise a single take-and-hold facility and carry a blended margin, which replaces the need for separate senior and mezzanine facilities,” Hogan Lovells said in a statement. “We expect unitranche will soon become more common given the number of global debt funds and banks already familiar with these structures.”
The firm has had a major role in the development of Europe’s unitranche market, which was established in 2008, it said.
Partner Richard Hayes said that Hogan Lovells lawyers from the Sydney, Perth, London, and Los Angeles offices worked together on the deal.
The Hogan Lovells team in Australia included Hayes, partner Matthew Johnson, senior associate Francis Booth, associates Sherry Khalili and Charles Wehbe, and law graduate Eric Van Winssen.
Barings, which has US$288bn in assets under management (AUM), is a member of the MassMutual Financial Group. The unitranche financing was used by The Riverside Company, a private equity firm with more than US$5bn in AUM, to acquire Energy Exemplar.
Related stories:
Uber books global firm for London license appeal
Firm trims US support staff ranks
