Shin Geum Investment Supports Acquisition Financing Refinancing for Australian Confectionery Company 'Anots'

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Jeong-su] Shinhan Financial Investment has supported part of the refinancing funds for the acquisition financing of Arnott’s Group, a leading Australian confectionery company. It participated as an investor in the process of refinancing the loan borrowed when the US private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) acquired Arnott’s in 2019.

According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 23rd, Snacking Investment BidCo Pty Ltd and Real Food Investment BidCo Pty Ltd, special purpose acquisition companies, received a loan of 87 million AUD (Australian dollars, approximately 75 billion KRW) under the lead management of Shinhan Financial Investment.

The loan maturity is 5 years and 6 months, with a condition of partial repayment of 0.25% of the total loan amount every 3 months. Early repayment is also possible in units of at least 5 million AUD up to 10 million AUD. Additionally, if Snacking Investment and others sell part or all of their shares in Arnott’s, early repayment of the corresponding amount is required.

The procured funds will be used for refinancing acquisition financing. Snacking Investment and Real Food Investment, established by KKR, previously received senior loans of 1.075 billion AUD (approximately 940.6 billion KRW) and mezzanine loans of 315 million AUD (275.6 billion KRW) for acquisition financing when acquiring Arnott’s Group in Australia.

KKR acquired 100% of Arnott’s shares held by Campbell Soup Company and Campbell Soup International in 2019 for 2.2 billion USD and currently holds them. At that time, Saemaeul Geumgo in Korea drew attention by executing a large-scale loan for Arnott’s acquisition financing. Shinhan Financial Investment executed part of the loan during this refinancing process. It provided credit facilities such as funding replenishment commitments during the loan securitization process.

Shinhan Financial Group and KKR have maintained a cooperative relationship in the global alternative investment sector. In early last year, Shinhan Financial contributed 200 million USD to a private equity fund managed jointly with KKR, establishing a Shinhan-exclusive fund.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.