TDR, the private equity owner of French restaurant chain Buffalo Grill, has built an 85% stake in the company’s debt, sources told Reorg. U.K. fund AlbaCore Capital has also recently bought into the company’s €200 million term loan B. TDR is being advised by Rothschild.
TDR bought into the debt at around 45, while AlbaCore built its position by stages. In April, AlbaCore said it was actively investing $750 million as part of a credit dislocation strategy.
Original lenders including Idinvest, Credit Agricole and Alcentra have sold their positions. The group’s remaining lenders are mostly banks.
Buffalo Grill’s TLB is quoted at 51. The company’s capital structure is shown below:
- €200 million TLB paying Euribor +475 basis points, due Jan. 9, 2025.
- €20 million RCF due Jan. 9, 2024.
- €40 million Capex facility.
The company has a net debt to EBITDA leverage ratio covenant of 6.1x. Lenders
expected the covenant to be tight at the end of March with very limited headroom. Leverage was 5.3x as of Dec. 31, up from 5x at the end of September. Sources expected this headroom to deteriorate significantly ahead of the June 30 test as the lockdown in France temporarily reduced revenue to zero.
-- Connor Lovell & Julie Miecamp