International law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy represented Nomura, BBVA, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and HSBC as joint lead arrangers and joint bookrunners for a $4.8 billion senior secured credit facility and a $1 billion senior notes issuance for Spanish pharmaceutical firm Grifols S.A.
The debt was incurred by U.S. and Irish borrowers and was supported by a cross-border guarantee and collateral package. The proceeds of the credit facilities, which include a $3.25 billion term loan B, a $700 million term loan A and a €400 million term loan B, as well as a $300 million multi-currency revolving facility, were used to refinance approximately $4.1 billion of existing loans, including the bridge loan closed in January in connection with Grifols’ acquisition of Novartis Diagnostics, and to pay off approximately $1.1 billion of existing secured notes due 2018.
As a leading global producer of plasma medicines, Grifols has a presence in more than 100 countries and is the world leader in plasma collection, with 150 plasma donation centers across the U.S. The company is headquartered in Barcelona, Spain and employs more than 11,000 people worldwide. In 2013, Grifols’ sales exceeded €2,740 million.
The Milbank Global Leveraged Finance team was led by partner Marcus Dougherty and included associates Sarah Griffin, Laura Larsen, Lina Jun and Brett Pallin. The Global Securities team was led by partner Peter Schwartz and included associates Noel Hughes, Albert Aharonian and Corey Blake.
Also providing advice on various points in the transaction were: Tax partner Andrew Walker and associate Lysondra Ludwig, Litigation partner Lawrence Kass and associate Hannah Cannom, Employee Benefits partner Joel Krasnow and associate Robin Heszkel and Real Estate associate Lisa Brabant.
