Linklaters advises the underwriters on Cirsa’s €650m high yield refinancing

A cross-practice and cross-jurisdictional Linklaters team has advised the initial purchasers on the issuance by Cirsa of two tranches (fixed and floating rate) of Senior Secured Notes totalling €650m.

Cirsa is one of the leading gaming companies in Spain and Italy, as well as in a number of countries in Latin America (with a focus on Panama, Colombia, Mexico, Costa Rica and Peru), operating slot machines, casinos and gaming halls and manufacturing slot machines for the Spanish market, and is owned by Blackstone, one of the world’s leading investment firms.

The offering was met with significant investor demand, and resulted in:

• An upsize of the issuance amount from €600m to €650m; and
• Pricing of the fixed rate notes at the tight end of initial price talk and a premium issue price of the floating rate notes.

The proceeds from the offering were used to redeem certain of Cirsa’s existing high yield notes and for distribution to Cirsa’s indirect parent, LHMC Finco 2 S.à r.l., in order to repay €200m in outstanding principal amount of its PIK Notes.

The Linklaters high yield team was led by partners Alek Naidenov and Chris Medley and included senior US associate Adriana Perez Cavazos and US associate Dami Banire. The Spanish team was led by partner Jorge Alegre and managing associate Alvaro Albors. Partner Gabriel Grossman and senior US associate Matthew Russo advised on U.S. tax matters, whilst the Milan and Luxembourg teams were led by partners Andrea Arosio and Melinda Perera, respectively.