Innova finalises PayPoint and PayZone acquisition with the assistance of RTPR

After almost six months from the announcement of the signing of the deal between Innova Capital (as buyer) and PayPoint PLC, the acquisition process of PayPoint Services SRL and Payzone SA was successfully closed. The RTPR team has provided complex assistance to Innova Capital in relation to all aspects related to M&A, competition and financing of the deal, with a value of approximately GBP 48 million, including in relation to the refinancing of the existing debt of the target. The banks who extended the financing to the buyer were European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and UniCredit Bank S.A., with UniCredit Bank S.A., acting as agent and security agent.

For this mandate RTPR involved a multidisciplinary team of lawyers for the three workstreams of the deal. The M&A team that advised on the closing of the transaction was made of Alina Stavaru (Partner), Codrina Simionescu and Petru Ursache (Associates). The financing team included Alexandru Retevoescu (Partner), Andreea Burtoiu (Counsel), Lia Ilie (Associate) and Iustina Nastasa (Junior Associate). The competition aspects of the transaction were covered by Valentin Berea (Partner) and Roxana Ionescu (Counsel).

Alina Stavaru declared: “We are happy to have successfully closed this complex deal, congratulations and thanks to Innova Capital team for their trust. It was an endurance project, in which the key to success was our multidisciplinary team whom I would like to thank for their valuable contribution.

The financing part played an important role in the successful closing of this transaction, we are pleased to have identified the most suitable solutions.”, declared Andreea Burtoiu.

RTPR is well-known for its extended experience in transactions concerning private equity funds, during the last few years it was involved in most of the private equity deals in Romania, assisting both buyers and sellers. It advised on the largest and most interesting transactions in Romania and in the region and this brought the firm international recognition. The most important international legal directories, enjoying an unrivalled reputation, such as Chambers & Partners, Legal 500 and IFLR1000, rank RTPR’s Corporate/M&A practice on the first tier. In the same time several team members are recommended as Leading Lawyers in this area.

Selected private equity deals in which RTPR have recently advised are set out below:

  • Oresa on the acquisition of logistics and industrial park Solo Iasi from Tester Group owned by Romanian businessman Bogdan Pitigoi
  • Enterprise Investors on the sale of Profi supermarket chain to Mid Europa Partners, the largest deal ever completed by a private equity fund in Romania and the largest deal in the retail sector in the country’s history
  • CEECAT Capital on the sale of Brikston Construction Solutions S.A., one of the major players on the masonry and finishing materials market in Romania, to the Austrian group Leier
  • Highlander Partners on the acquisition of the majority stake in the Ares Group, the leading private provider of interventional cardiology procedures in Romania
  • Enterprise Investors on the sale of Macon group to Xella Group
  • South Eastern European Fund on the sale of Total Soft S.A., the most important ERP producer in Central Europe
  • Centrul Medical Unirea (the healthcare services provider “Regina Maria”) and Mid Europa Partners on the acquisition of Ponderas Hospital
  • Catalyst Romania, the private equity fund advised by 3TS Capital Partners on several investments in the TMT sector Avangate, Vector Watch, SmartDreamers, Intelligent IT, SmartBill and Marketizator Friends, Internet Corp, Vola, 123ContactForm, Simartis Telecom
  • Advent International Corporation on the exit from Regina Maria