Linklaters has advised Budapest Airport and its shareholders on the amendment and extension of its existing EUR 1.4 billion debt facilities, with Dentons Budapest working alongside and advising on Hungarian law. Allen & Overy in London and Faludi Wolf Theiss in Budapest advised the lenders and security agent Bayerische Landesbank on English and Hungarian law, respectively.
Amended in compliance with Budapest Airport's concession arrangements, the transaction successfully enabled the company to exchange junior debt with pari passu debt. According to Linklaters, the amended facility, which constitutes "a significant vote of confidence in the company" includes "several highly bespoke features such as a liquidity facility and note issuance facility within a single facility amendment." Linklaters reports that "the deal also included new institutional investors and the EBRD funding for 10 and 15 year terms, as well as a large swap restructuring. BLB continues as Agent."
According to Linklaters, "the deal was completed within a relatively short period of five months from first negotiation to closing, which was a great achievement for all parties concerned given the complexity, bespoke nature of the new features added to the existing facility and the large number of counter-parties."
The Linklaters team was led by Infrastructure Partner Ian Andrews and Structured Finance Partner Julian Davies, supported by a team of over 20 Linklaters lawyers across three jurisdictions, including Subir Rajadhyaksha on the core financing and James McGivern on the swaps.
The Dentons team was led by Partner Istvan Reczicza, with Partner Milan Kohlrusz and Associate Katalin Zsebik working on concession-related aspects. Partner Gergely Horvath and Associates Gabriella Pataki and Bence Boszormenyi worked on the financing aspects.
The Allen & Overy team in London was led by Conrad Andersen, Tim Conduit, and Seonaid Todisco.
The Wolf Theiss team was led by Managing Partner Zoltan Faludi, working with Senior Associate Melinda Pelikan and Associates Zsofia Polyak and Diana Boross-Varga, with Senior Associate Janos Pasztor and Associate Alexandra Toth advising on tax matters.
Rothschild acted as financial adviser to Budapest Airport.
Editor's Note: This article has been updated to clarify the roles played by Allen & Overy and Wolf Theiss in their representation of the lenders.
