Euro Ethnic Foods allocates €465M buyout loan; terms

The €465 million first lien term loan backing PAI's buyout of Euro Ethnic Foods SA has priced and allocated at the tight end of revised guidance given on Jan. 28, at E+350 with a 0% floor offered at par. The deal is free-to-trade and opened in a 100.250/100.750 market before softening slightly to 100.125/100.625 by mid-morning London time. Credit Suisse, UBS and Credit Agricole CIB are physical bookrunners, alongside joint bookrunners BofA Securities, Banque Populaire, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs.

Final pricing compares with guidance given at launch of E+400 with a 0% floor offered at 99-99.5, that was then tightened on Jan. 26 to E+350-375 with a 0% floor offered at 99.5, before a final update that took guidance to E+350, 0% at 99.75-100. The first-lien loan supports the firm's acquisition by PAI, and comes alongside a €75 million second-lien loan that was pre-placed ahead of launch and a €50 million revolver.

PAI announced the acquisition of Euro Ethnic Foods in November 2020 in a deal that will see the private equity firm take a 60% stake, with founder-shareholders Leo and Patrick Bahadourian holding the remainder. Euro Ethnic Foods operates the grocery section of the Grand Frais Stores in France, Belgium and Luxembourg, and supplies grocery products to independent shops. Terms: