GE Capital EMEA Signs €160m Financing Package for IPH Group
GE Capital EMEA has signed an agreement with IPH Group to provide trade receivables financing for the industrial supplies distributor in France, Germany and the Netherlands. Using an innovative special purpose vehicle (SPV) structure, GE Capital EMEA underwrote and holds 100% of the facility.
The transaction was timed to coincide with the acquisition of the company by private equity sponsor PAI Partners, which bought IPH from Investcorp last month.
The SPV structure is targeted at European companies with annual turnover of over €250m and with subsidiaries in European countries including Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain, France, Italy, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Poland, the UK and Switzerland.
The financing package gives IPH access to a six-year committed facility, backed by the trade receivables of its subsidiaries in France, Germany and the Netherlands. This facility was set up in conjunction with a €220m Unitranche financing, which represents the most significant transaction combining Unitranche and securitisation on the market.
IPH was set up in 1987 and historically based in Lyon, France. It employs over 3,000 people and generated turnover of €895m in 2012.
“GE Capital’s six-year commitment, the European coverage of its financing platform and its ability to be extended to companies that the group will acquire in the coming years were the main criteria for choosing this solution,” said Pierre Pouletty, IPH Group’s chief executive officer (CEO).