Leading international law firm, Clifford Chance, is advising FTSE 250 Irish company, C&C Group plc (“C&C”), on its 6-for-23 fully underwritten rights issue to raise gross proceeds of approximately £151 million announced on 26 May 2021.
C&C is an existing client of the firm and a leading, vertically integrated premium drinks company which manufactures, markets and distributes branded beer, cider, wine, spirits, and soft drinks across the UK and Ireland. The rights issue is intended, alongside the other actions C&C has already implemented, to reduce leverage and provide sufficient liquidity to manage near-term trading uncertainty, providing C&C with the capital structure to support the business during further potential disruptions from COVID-19 and to deliver on its strategy once unrestricted trading resumes.
The cross-practice Clifford Chance team is being co-led by lead relationship partner David Pudge (Corporate), alongside capital markets partners Chris Roe (ECM) and Michael Dakin (US Securities), with support from Senior Associates Drew Rundus and Conor Maguire, Associates Mathias Toubiana and Nnesochi Ajukwu and Trainee Solicitor Ines Teixeira. Incentives Partner Sonia Gilbert, Employment Partner Alistair Woodland and Tax Partner Nick Mace are also advising, with support from Associate Katharine Wadia. Irish law advice is being provided to C&C by McCann FitzGerald.
This transaction is one of a number of equity capital markets mandates that Clifford Chance has advised on since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, leveraging its market leading equity capital markets and corporate practices to advise clients on a broad range of all corporate finance options. C&C’s rights issue is a particularly ground-breaking transaction, being the first rights issue to be launched by an Irish company since completion of the post-Brexit migration of issuer CSD services for Irish securities from CREST to Euroclear Bank and requiring the approval of a prospectus by both the Financial Conduct Authority and the Central Bank of Ireland.
