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publicado el 15 de OCTUBRE de 2009

Herbert Smith advises JJB Sports on £100 million capital raising and amended financing arrangements

Herbert Smith is advising listed sports retailer JJB Sports on its £100 million firm placing and placing and open offer and amendments to its facility agreement with Bank of Scotland announced yesterday. The company intends to raise £100 million of gross proceeds through the issue of 400 million shares, 199.3 million in the firm placing and 200.7 million shares in the placing and open offer, at an issue price of 25 pence, a discount of 23.7% to the closing price on 9 October 2009. The capital raising is fully underwritten by Numis and Panmure Gordon. Lazard is acting as financial adviser and sponsor. In addition, the company has also agreed amendments to its facility agreement with Bank of Scotland, including new financial covenants and an extension in the maturity date to 30 September 2012. These amendments are conditional upon the company raising net proceeds of at least £25 million from the capital raising. KPMG is acting as debt adviser. The proceeds of the capital raising will be used to pay down amounts drawn on the Bank of Scotland facility, with the balance credited to cash on the Group's balance sheet. Following the capital raising the Group's cash balances and undrawn amounts under the Bank of Scotland facility will enable the Group to reduce its reliance on the availability of supplier credit and provide sufficient working capital to rebuild stock levels into 2010 and for the implementation of the Group's strategy, including the development of the Group's internet offering, the refurbishment of existing stores and the opening of new stores. The Herbert Smith team was led by corporate partner Will Pearce and senior associate Andrew Carter, with support from corporate partner Gareth Roberts and US securities partner Alex Bafi. Finance partner Ewen Fergusson led on the amendments to the Group's facility agreement with Bank of Scotland. Will Pearce commented: "Having advised JJB Sports on its restructuring and refinancing earlier in the year – including the groundbreaking CVA proposals that have paved the way for similar arrangements by other listed companies – we are delighted to have worked with the company on this next stage of its turnaround." Lazard, Numis and Panmure Gordon were advised by Ashurst. Bank of Scotland was advised by Lovells.