AVELLUM acted as Ukrainian legal advisor to MHP S.A. (“MHP”) on the benchmarck USD500 million, 7 year, 7.75% Eurobond issue with the benefit of the guarantees from its Ukrainian subsidiaries. The joint lead managers on the transaction were J.P. Morgan Securities plc and London Branch of ING Bank N.V.
The Eurobond issue was coupled with the cash tender offer for MHP’s outstanding USD750 million 8.25% bonds due in 2020, with USD245.2 million of which were tendered by the bondholders.
Commenting on this transanction, AVELLUM’s senior partner Glib Bondar said: “We are proud to have been entrusted by MHP with this challenging transaction, which is the second corporate eurobond issue that our team has worked on this year. It is fair to say that this transaction is truly remarkable, given its size, improved coupon and maturity profile, despite the volatile markets and still limited investor appetite for Ukrainian risk. It further demonstrates signs of reviving investors’ confidence in Ukrainian economy and will hopefully open doors to this important funding source for other Ukraine-based businesses.”
MHP is one of the leading poultry producers in Europe and one of the biggest grain producers in Ukraine. MHP has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since 2008.
The AVELLUM team was led by senior partner Glib Bondar and counsel Igor Lozenko, with support from senior associate Vadim Medvedev and associates Anna Melnychuk, Pavlo Shevchenko, Yuriy Zaremba, Tetiana Mykhailenko, Anastasiya Voronova, Orest Franchuk, Dmytro Tkachuk, Olga Tersina and Vladyslav Aleksandrov.