Gordon Brothers arranged, structured and executed a £25 million ($33.3 million) asset-backed financing facility for MIP Holdings Limited in partnership with Aurelius Finance Company. The funding supported MIP’s public-to-private takeover of French Connection Group.
Gordon Brothers delivered the majority funding on the transaction, providing £17.5 million ($23.3 million) for the financing facility. Aurelius Finance Company provided £7.5 million ($10 million) as co-lender. The facility includes an acquisition finance tranche to refinance French Connection’s existing secured lender and a working capital tranche to support the retailer’s liquidity needs going forward.
“We are extremely delighted to have collaborated with the MIP consortium in what has been a transformative financing facility,” Nimit Shah, managing director at Gordon Brothers, said. “The combination of MIP’s expertise in wholesaling, coupled with our deep knowledge of consumer brands, helped us unlock value to execute the facility of the British heritage brand in a tight time frame.”
This financing facility extends Gordon Brothers’ partnership with French Connection, which Gordon Brothers has supported since its exit from Japan in 2010. In the same year, the firm was mandated to provide real estate services for 15 locations in the U.S. Additionally, Gordon Brothers supported the wholesale inventory disposition over a three-year period.
“We are tremendously excited for the opportunity to finance an iconic brand such as French Connection,” Tobias Nanda, president of brands at Gordon Brothers, said. “This transaction is a perfect example of how Gordon Brothers supports and invests in global brands to help fuel their growth.”
“Gordon Brothers’ asset valuation expertise and market-leading knowledge of brand-based financing made them a strong partner for us,” Apinder Singh Ghura, director at MIP Holdings Limited, said. “We’re pleased to have worked with them on structuring this complex transaction and were impressed by their speed and flexibility.”
