LONDON, May 27, 2004 – LAWFUEL – In one of 2004’s largest refinancings, White & Case acted for the mandated lead arrangers (CSFB, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley) in the provision of £2.45 billion of senior credit facilities to NTL Investment Holdings Limited, the UK subsidiary of NTL Inc. The credit facilities, coupled with an £800m high yield bond issue by another subsidiary of the NTL Group, will be used to repay in full £2.79bn in debt – the bulk of which falls due next year. The senior credit facilities are guaranteed and secured substantially by all the assets of the UK Group of NTL.
The refinancing marks a return to growth for NTL, which is the UK’s largest cable operator and a leading global telecoms provider, following its emergence from Chapter 11 late last year. The transaction structure created by the White & Case team provided the flexibility and terms required by NTL in order to leave it unfettered on its path to growth.
Commenting on the deal, Mike Goetz, co-head of the London Bank Finance group, said: “We’ve worked very hard over the last few years to build a global network of lawyers able to provide innovative solutions in a multi-jurisdictional environment. The success of our work on the NTL deal is testament to this, with our immensely strong London team of US- and UK-qualified Bank Finance lawyers able to bring this complex transaction to fruition.”
The White & Case team advising on the transaction was led by Bank Finance partners Maurice Allen and Mike Goetz, assisted by Barbara Kong, senior associate, and Martin Kimchi, associate.
