MILAN, May 22 (Reuters) – Financial software firm Aeon Group has been able to raise the capital it needs to complete its proposed €1.3 billion ($1.4 billion) takeover of Italian credit management company Plelios To do so, it has found a compromise with lenders, two people said. The matter said
ION has been in talks with U.S. investment fund Davidson Kempner for months to acquire Plelios, a bad debt specialist that DK took private in 2018.
The bank will provide more than 700 million euros of debt to fund the deal, which will cover more than half of the total, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Not all banks have completed all the internal procedures required to approve the loan, but the deal is imminent, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Banks such as BNP Paribas, Banco BPM, JP Morgan, Santander and Unicredit are expected to provide funding, with more likely to join, two sources said.
Both banks declined to comment. DK could not be reached for comment.
The deadlock over the funding period was overcome through a “bridge to bond” structure with longer maturities than usual, one of the people said.
A “bridge to bond” loan typically requires the borrower to enter the market within 12 to 18 months to repay the loan. In the case of ION, the time to refinance the debt is even longer, according to sources familiar with the matter.
ION has a single B credit rating below the investment grade standard of ‘BBB’ by Moody’s and S&P Global, according to Refinitiv data. (1 dollar = 0.9084 euro) (reported by Valentina Za, edited by Keith Weir)
