The El Corte Inglés Group has reached an agreement to refinance its bank debt for a maximum aggregate amount of up to €2.6 billion. The contract, which has been signed with the support of more than twenty national and international financial institutions, allows the retail group to improve its current conditions by securing stable financing, with lower costs and longer maturities. In fact, it allows the terms to be extended until March 2027 with the possibility of a one-year extension and an additional year, staggered.
The agreement, which establishes a maximum amount of €2.6 billion, involves the total refinancing of the previous contract signed in February 2020, to which a new tranche of €600 million is added, that will be used to amortise issues in the capital market. The operation is structured as a long-term loan of €919 million and a credit line of up to €1.08 billion.
The refinancing agreement also includes sustainability commitments in line with the Group’s corporate social responsibility strategies. The refinancing agreement is in the form of an investment grade company, although El Corte Inglés has not yet obtained it, which means that the company has the backing of national and international banks.
The banks with which the refinancing agreement has been reached are Santander, BBVA, BNP, Caixabank, Unicredit, Sabadell, Crédit Agricole, Kutxabank, Unicaja Bank, Intesa San Paolo, Société Genérale, Deutsche Bank, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Ibercaja, Barclays, Citibank, Banco Cooperativo Español, ICBC and Aresbank.
DLA Piper advised all the banks with a Madrid office Finance & Projects team led by Spain managing partner Jesús Zapata, together with Legal director José Marco Asencio and associate Santiago González.
Cuatrecasas advised El Corte Inglés with a Finance team formed by partner Miguel Cruz Ropero and associate Nuria Burillo.
UniCredit was also represented by its head of Legal & Compliance Silvia Madrid.
