RTPR assisted Autonom Services S.A. in relation to the implementation of the first corporate bond offer programme established by a local issuer and respectively, in connection with the private placement of the first tranche of corporate bonds issued under the offer programme through which Autonom attracted over EUR 48 million funds. Autonom Services is the most important independent player on the operational leasing and rent-a-car markets in Romania. The bonds issued within this first tranche have been admitted to trading on the regulated market of the Bucharest Stock Exchange. The company will use this financing to support the implementation of the sustainability strategy announced by the company at the beginning of October 2021.
The RTPR team that provided legal advice to Autonom Services in this transaction was made of Mihai Ristici (Partner), Vlad Stamatescu (Managing Associate), Marina Fecheta-Giurgica (Associate) and Raluca Marcu (Junior Associate).
“The market firsts brought to the capital markets by this ambitious project would not have been possible without our partners’ support and expertise. We have once again chosen the RTPR team as our legal advisor and we have no regret. We would like to thank them for their valuable contribution to the achievement of this objective, for their professionalism and the extraordinary dedication they show every time in our collaborations. We are happy they are on our side in Autonom’s mission to evolve every day”, declared Dan Stefan, co-founder of Autonom Group.
“We are delighted with this new challenge received from Autonom. We have advised them on several occasions in recent years in the most important moments of the company’s development, and this new bond issue marks the beginning of a bold and challenging plan to align to the need to reduce carbon emissions”, said Mihai Ristici.
The first collaboration between RTPR and Autonom took place in 2018, when the law firm advised on the acquisition of BT Operational Leasing from the Banca Transilvania group. Subsequently RTPR assisted Autonom in relation to the first issue of corporate bonds on the regulated market managed by the Bucharest Stock Exchange.
“We would like to thank the Autonom team for putting their trust in our team for this new transaction. We are happy to have contributed to the success of this new issue in the same formula and we would like to congratulate them for their courage to explore the benefits of raising funds on the capital market for projects that are designed to meet the highest sustainability standards”, added Vlad Stamatescu.
“We are excited to have contributed to the implementation of the novelties for the local capital market (offer programme and inaugural issue of SLB bonds) and grateful for the opportunity to have advised the Autonom team for the third time in their journey to a sustainable development of their business”, declared Marina Fecheta-Giurgica.
RTPR enjoys a remarkable reputation in the field of capital markets deals, gained as a result of its involvement in the most sophisticated projects in Romania. With a team of 5 lawyers specialised in capital markets transactions, RTPR is one of the few law firms in Romania recommended in the first tier of the rankings for both Debt and Equity transactions.
The practice is constantly recommended in the prestigious international legal directories, Legal 500 ranks it in tier 1 for the eleventh consecutive year, and IFLR1000 places it in the first position (for both Equity and Debt sections) for the eighth year in a row.
Selected capital markets transactions in which RTPR have been recently involved are set out below:
- Autonom Services in relation to the first issue of corporate bonds
- UniCredit Leasing Corporation IFN SA on the EUR300 million bond financing
- Barclays Bank PLC as arranger for Alpha Bank Romania on the first mortgage bonds issue programme in Romania with a value of EUR 1 billion
- Purcari Wineries Public Company Limited on its IPO and admission to trading on the Bucharest Stock Exchange
- WOOD & Company Financial Services and Raiffeisen Bank as joint bookrunners on the IPO of Sphera Franchise Group
- Raiffeisen Bank S.A. and WOOD & Company Financial Services a.s., as managers on the intermediation of Med Life’s IPO
- WOOD & Company Financial Services, Raiffeisen Bank and Raiffeisen Centrobank in relation to the private placement of a cca. 22.7% shareholding stake held by Lorimer Ventures Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary of Emerging Europe Growth Fund II, L.P., managed by Horizon Capital) in Purcari Wineries Public Company Limited
- Electrica in relation to its IPO on the Bucharest Stock Exchange and on the London Stock Exchange – first primary offering of shares in Romania involving global depositary receipts
- Deutsche Bank, Raiffeisen Bank International and J.P. Morgan, as Joint Lead Managers and Deutsche Trustee Company Limited, as Trustee, on the issuance by NEPI of EUR 400 million high yield bonds
- J.P. Morgan in relation to the issuance by Cable Communications Systems of EUR 450 million senior secured notes guaranteed by RCS & RDS
