Kirkland Advises Searchlight Capital on Recapitalisation of Latécoère

Kirkland is advising Searchlight Capital on the 292.5 million euros recapitalisation of its portfolio company Latecoere and the launch of a rights issue with shareholders’ preferential subscription rights for a minimum amount of 162.5 million euros fully underwritten by Searchlight Capital Partners. Latécoère successfully entered into a conciliation protocol with its present and future financial creditors and its majority shareholder, Searchlight Capital. This protocol concludes the discussions relating to a comprehensive recapitalization of the Group.

The protocol is subject to the completion of certain conditions precedent, notably its homologation by the Tribunal de Commerce of Toulouse. Under the terms of the protocol, Latécoère has undertaken to carry out a share capital increase, with preferential subscription rights, for a minimum amount of 162.5 million euros, the prospectus for which must be approved by the AMF. It also provides for the obtaining by Latécoère of Prêt Garanti par l’Etat (PGE) for a principal amount of 130 million euros, the rescheduling of the existing PGE repayment schedule and the deferral of the maturity of certain loans contracted with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to 2027.

The team consisted of corporate partner Vincent Ponsonnaille and associate Louis Gosset and debt finance partners Neel Sachdev and Lloyd Jones.