Banks led by BNP Paribas and HSBC are preparing to syndicate a £1.4 billion debt package that will finance Apollo’s £2.7 billion acquisition of UK-based parcel delivery firm Evri, market sources said.
The deal will include a mixture of sterling high yield bonds and euro-denominated term loans that will launch to general syndication soon, sources said. The final bank line up will be finalised as soon as the week beginning Sept. 16, sources added.
Apollo announced its acquisition of Evri from Advent in July, in a deal said to value the UK-based parcel delivery outfit at roughly £2.7 billion. LCD reported the deal was set to bring debt to the broadly syndicated market shortly after.
Formerly the UK segment of Germany’s Hermes, Advent bought the business in 2020 and rebranded it as Evri two years later, in a bid to reinvent its customer service image.
Apollo’s acquisition of the firm comes at a pivotal time for the UK delivery sector, with Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky agreeing to buy Royal Mail parent IDS for nearly £3.6 billion earlier this year in a debt-backed deal that will ensure investment-grade status of the former monopoly.
Evri’s plans to tap the sterling market to support the buyout by Apollo will make it the first sterling high yield deal backing an LBO since Worldpay a year ago, according to LCD. Sources said the split between sterling bonds and euro loans is yet to be determined.
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