News | Finance

Friday 1st March 2002

SJ Berwin's Banking Department has advised Standard Bank London Limited as mandated arranger for a €180,000,000 syndicated loan facility to Bivideon (a Dutch SPV whose shareholders include Deutsche Bank and TDC, the Danish telecommunications company) to enable it to purchase, approximately, a 72% stake in Ceske Radiokomuniace a.s. ("CRa"). CRa is a Czech telecommunications company, which operates as a television and radio broadcaster as well as providing leased line, data and satellite services, and owns a 39% interest in RadioMobil a.s., the mobile phone company. Approximately 51% of CRa was purchased from the Czech National Property Fund with the balance being purchased from TDC.

SJ Berwin's banking and finance team, which was led by partner Paul Diss and included partner Raji Bartlett and assistants Robert Andrews, Tim Drake and Susie Scannelli, worked closely with Standard Bank to ensure an effective secured facility. The financing was ground-breaking as it was one of the first syndicated loan facilities secured over shares in a company listed on the Prague Stock Exchange. As Paul Diss explains, "The transaction was particularly difficult due to the novelty of taking security over shares in a company listed in the Czech Republic for funds advanced by a syndicate of banks under a loan agreement governed by English law."

• SJ Berwin is a full-service international legal practice with more than 850 lawyers across its offices in London, Brussels, Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich, Madrid and Paris.
• The London practice of SJ Berwin's Banking & Finance department comprises 5 partners supported by 16 assistants, trainees and professional support lawyers. The department works with leading financial institutions in the City and across Europe and works closely when necessary with the departmental members based in the firm's continental offices.
• Further information about Ceske Radiokomunicace a.s. may be found at www.cra.cz. Further information about Standard Bank London Limited can be found at http://standardbank.com