By
Bloomberg
Published
Aug 26, 2023
A group of lenders led by Carlyle Group Inc. and including HPS Investment Partners has agreed to provide around $230 million-equivalent of debt to help finance Advent International’s acquisition of a majority stake in Australian fashion brand Zimmermann, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The financing was structured as a unitranche loan that matures in 2029 and pays interest of 6.5 percentage points over the benchmark, said the people, who asked not to be named because details of the transaction are private. It was issued at a discount of 97 cents on the dollar, they said.
Most of the debt is denominated in US dollars and priced over the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, while a smaller portion is denominated in euros and priced over Euribor, one of the people said. Advent has separately obtained a revolving credit line for the acquisition, the people said.
Representatives for Carlyle, HPS and Advent declined to comment. Zimmermann did not respond to a request for comment.
The $1.5 trillion private credit market has found fertile ground in Australia, with funds including Carlyle and HPS increasingly competing with local lenders for new deals. A group led by Ares Management Corp. recently agreed to provide AUD 800 million ($516 million) of debt to support TPG Inc.’s acquisition of Australian funeral home operator InvoCare Ltd. Private debt funds had also been working on a roughly AUD 1 billion loan package over the summer to fund a potential buyout of Australian firm TEG.
Advent’s acquisition values the fashion house at about $1 billion, Bloomberg previously reported. Italian private equity firm Style Capital and Zimmermann’s founding family will retain significant minority stakes in the company, according to a statement earlier this month.
