Global law firm Freshfields advised the initial purchasers in Cheplapharm Arzneimittel GmbH’s (“Cheplapharm”) successful offering of €750 million 7.125% Senior Secured Notes due 2031.
Cheplapharm is a specialty pharmaceuticals company headquartered in Germany with a portfolio of more than 150 products covering more than ten therapeutic areas. It focuses on acquiring and then marketing well-established, off-patent, branded pharmaceutical products. The proceeds from the issuance will be used for the early redemption in full of Cheplapharm’s €500m notes due 2027 and for the partial refinancing of Cheplapharm’s notes maturing in 2028. The refinancing extends Cheplapharm’s maturity profile and increases its financial flexibility.
The Freshfields team was led by partner Simone Bono, counsel Shruti Dusaj and associates Ahmed Yacout, Benedict Choi and Chen Yan in London. Advice on German insolvency law was provided by partner Dr. Jan-Philip Wilde and associate Felix Behnke in Hamburg and senior knowledge lawyer Susanne Hörrmann in Munich. German capital markets advice was provided by partner Dr. Christoph Gleske and associate Simon Cisneros in Frankfurt. German tax advice was provided by partner Dr. Sebastian Röger and counsel Peter Stark in Frankfurt. German regulatory advice was provided by principal associate Dr. Katharina Reinhardt in Berlin and associate Dr. Tobias Klatt in Düsseldorf. Sanctions advice was provided by partner Stephanie Brown Cripps and associate Andrew Bulovsky in New York. Partner Claude B. Stansbury and senior associate Courtney Canning in New York provided US tax advice. Senior transaction lawyer Liliana Suarez Llerena in Frankfurt and transaction lawyer Eleonora Gerasimchuk in Hamburg provided assistance with due diligence.