Lion's Picard issues €480m floating rate note

The notes are due to mature in 2019. The issuance enabled Picard to refinance the remaining €500m of senior debt put in place at the time of the 2010 buyout, with no further impact on the company's capital structure, according to French publication Capital Finance.

Picard Surgelés confirmed the offering on July 24. Neither Lion Capital nor Picard could be reached at this time to confirm the outcome of the issuance.

Lion Capital acquired frozen food retailer Picard Surgelés from BC Partners for €1.5bn in 2010. Crédit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Crédit Agricole CIB and SocGen CIB provided a €675m senior debt package, with the rest of the leverage coming in the form of a €300m high-yield bond maturing in 2018.

Picard's debt/EBITDA ratio stood at 5.0x for the financial year ending in March 2013, against 5.4x for the previous financial year, according to Moody's.

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• Topics
• France
• Financing
• France
• Lion Capital
• Refinancing