Permira to restructure Iglo finances
UK-based private equity firm Permira has hired banks to provide additional debt for its frozen food…UK-based private equity firm Permira has hired banks to provide additional debt for its frozen food company Iglo, which owns the Birds Eye brand.
Credit Suisse, HSBC, Nomura and UBS will be managing the Iglo transaction, under which €250m of new debt will be added to the company's existing loans €1.6bn, in order to restructure the finances. Permira is also planning to pay itself a dividend of €319m.
As part of the dividend agreement, Iglo is also seeking an extension on the maturity of its existing term loans to October 2017.
Earlier, Permira rejected the second bid for Iglo from private equity firms Blackstone and BC Partners, which had earlier jointly offered €2.5bn for the business.
The UK equity firm, which was expecting a bid of €2.8bn, cancelled the sale of Iglo and plans to grow the business as it believes the frozen food company is performing strongly and is a well-capitalized business.
Permira acquired Iglo from Unilever in 2006 for €1.7bn, and in July 2010 it expanded the operations by combining Iglo with the Birds Eye unit and Unilever's other frozen-food business, Findus Italy.