Reed Smith advises BlueBay and Lloyds on Silverfleet’s acquisition of Masai Clothing.
Global law firm Reed Smith has advised BlueBay Asset Management LLP (BlueBay) and its second direct lending fund on a unitranche facility provided to European private equity firm Silverfleet Capital (Silverfleet) in connection with the acquisition by Silverfleet of Danish womenswear clothing brand Masai Clothing Company ApS (Masai).
Working capital facilities are being provided to Masai by Lloyds Bank plc (Lloyds), which was advised as super senior lender by a separate Reed Smith team.
The acquisition will be Silverfleet’s first investment from its new €850 million fund, Silverfleet Capital II, which closed last month. It is also one of the first investments that BlueBay has made from its second direct lending fund. The transaction is subject to obtaining competition clearances and is anticipated to close shortly.
Masai is headquartered in Copenhagen and wholesales and retails its own-designed clothing in over 25 countries around the world. Its core markets are the Nordic region (where it has 18 retail outlets in Denmark, Sweden and Norway), UK and Germany. In total, Masai clothing can be purchased at 1,340 points of sale as far afield as Australia, USA and Canada.
Ben Davis, Reed Smith leveraged finance partner, commented:
“This is one of the first unitranche financings in Denmark and it shows the continued expansion of the product across Europe and into new geographies. We are delighted to have supported BlueBay and Lloyds on this transaction and to continue to develop our relationships with them. This is the fourth completed transaction where we have supported BlueBay in the past 15 months and the second completed transaction where we have supported the Lloyds acquisition finance team this calendar year.”
