GE Capital and Ares refinance Astorg's Ethypharm

GE and Ares arranged the facility via their $1.75bn European Senior Secured Loan Programme (ESSLP) unitranche joint venture. ESSLP recently arranged a €115m unitranche facility for Ergon Capital-backed Nicotra-Gebhardt to refinance existing debt and for the acquisition of Industrie CBI.

Astorg acquired 60% of Paris-based pharmaceutical company Ethypharm in 2007. Bank of Ireland provided senior debt while ICG underwrote the warranted mezzanine credit and took a minority stake. Total debt represented 55% of the deal's total value, according to unquote" data.

The fresh unitranche facility will refinance Ethypharm's existing debt and fund both R&D and future acquisitions.

Unitranche has been a growing feature of the French mid-market in recent months, with two out of the four most recent deals in this segment being so financed. Ardian provided yet another unitranche facility for the Européenne des Desserts buyout, while Apax also went down that route for the Inseec deal – the GP has so far declined to disclose the providers, although the names of European Capital and Tikehau were mentioned in connection with the deal.

Company
Founded in 1977, Ethypharm is a pharmaceutical company specialising in modified release formulation. It also develops its own portfolio of prescription drugs. Headquartered in Saint Cloud, the group employs 800 staff and posted a turnover of around €150m in 2012.

People
GE and Ares were represented by Camille Frizon de Lamotte and Aurélien Loszycer respectively. Thierry Timsit is a partner at Astorg and non-executive director at Ethypharm.

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• Topics
• Restructuring
• France
• Healthcare
• Financing
• France
• Refinancing
• Astorg Partners
• GE Capital