International Financing Review February 29 2020 71LOANS RESTRUCTURINGmajority stake in an operator of English
language training centres in Vietnam,
MARKINGûITSûlRSTûINVESTMENTûINûTHEûCOUNTRY
Nine banks participated in the
transaction, which offers an interest margin
in the high 300s.
Lenders are Bank SinoPac, CTBC Bank, E. Sun
Commercial Bank, ING, Taipei Fubon Commercial
Bank, KGI Bank, SMBC, Cathay United Bank and
Taishin International Bank.
Asia-focused BPEA acquired the stake in
Vietnam USA Society English Centres, the
largest provider of English language training
services in the South-East Asian nation. It
operates 20 centres across Vietnam,
enrolling approximately 200,000 students
annually.TPG SEEKS FOR SCHOOLS LBO0RIVATEûEQUITYûlRMûTPG CAPITAL ASIA is seeking
Aû53MûlVE
YEARûLOANûTOûBACKûITSû
leveraged buyout of the K-12 education
business of Malaysia’s Paramount.
Deutsche Bank is leading the deal, which is
said to pay an interest margin of 450bp over
Libor and has been launched into limited
syndication.
TPG’s majority stake in Vietnam Australia
International School, located in Ho Chi
Minh City, will form the security for the
loan.
On June 20 last year, Paramount
announced that it was divesting its
controlling stakes in Paramount Education,
Paramount Education (Klang) and Sri KDU toTPG-backed Two Horses Capital for an
indicative M$540.5m (US$128m) in cash.
Paramount’s K-12 education businesses
comprises Sri KDU and REAL national and
international schools, REAL Kids pre-
schools, and Cambridge English for Life
enrichment centres.
2OTHSCHILDûû#OûISûTHEûSOLEûlNANCIALû
adviser to the Paramount board for the sale.
RHB Investment Bank is the sole principal
adviser. Credit Suisse is a buyside adviser
and Maybank is the co-adviser to TPG Capital
Asia.
In 2017, TPG bought a majority stake in
K-12 education group VAS from two PE
funds, Mekong Enterprise Fund II and MAJ
Invest.RESTRUCTURING
EUROPE/MIDDLE EAST/
AFRICABRITAX WRAPS RESTRUCTURINGLenders have taken over UK child safety
product manufacturer BRITAX from private
EQUITYûlRMû.ORDICû#APITALûINûAûDEBT
FOR
equity swap.
53ûINVESTMENTûlRMSû!VENUEû#APITALûANDû
Marblegate are now the majority owners of
the company, having previously bought into
Britax’s debt in Europe’s secondary market.Prior to the restructuring, the company
had a covenant-lite US$392.76m-equivalent
term loan B that was set to mature this year
and was led by Goldman Sachs and HSBC.
The loan comprised a US$280m tranche, a
€65m tranche and a A$25m tranche.
4HATûlNANCINGûHASûNOWûBEENû
predominately written off and a “sizeable”
new money facility has been put in place, a
source said.
4HEûûLOANûRElNANCEDû"RITAXSûaMû
BUYOUTûlNANCINGûTHATûBACKEDû.ORDICû
Capital’s £430m acquisition of the company
in 2011.
Houlihan Lokey advised the company and
PJT advised the lenders on the debt
restructuring.
Moody’s downgraded Britax’s debt in
September to Caa3 from Caa1 as its
operating performance continued to
deteriorate, with Ebitda falling 17% to €19m
between June 2018 and June 2019.
The deterioration was driven cost
INmATION û)4ûPROBLEMSûINû%UROPEûANDûSOFTû
market conditions in China, Moody’s said.
The company was acquired by Nordic
Capital Fund VII and the plan was to drive
geographical expansion and to capitalise on
emerging market growth, predominantly in
China and Latin America.
In April 2018, Nordic Capital completed
the transfer of its remaining nine unlisted
portfolio companies, including Britax, to a
continuation vehicle, Nordic Capital CV1,
providing fresh capital over an additional
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