Wragge & Co LLP Banking & Finance team has advised new client KBC Business Capital on its £31 million financing of Burn Stewart Distillers Limited. The transaction involved asset based lending facilities, including accounts receivable, inventory, plant and machinery and real property.

A team led by partner and head of asset finance Paula Laird advised on the transaction, with assistance from Yuen san Naylor-Lui. The team worked closely with Paul Hooper, sales director at KBC Business Capital, Danny Harrison and Paul Apps.

Paula Laird said: "It was a pleasure to work with new client KBC Business Capital and its customer Burn Stewart Distillers Limited on this transaction. All parties worked well together to facilitate successful completion of the deal."

Paul Hooper, sales director at KBC Business Capital, said: "Utilising this asset based lending methodology allowed us to generate significantly more headroom and a funding structure more appropriate for the sector than had been available under more traditional financing methods. We chose Wragge & Co because of its proven expertise in providing legal services in relation to asset based lending structures of this nature. Paula Laird and the team delivered a first rate service and we look forward to working with them in the future."

Burn Stewart Distillers is a scotch whisky producer and brand owner based in Scotland. It has a strong portfolio of brands including Bunnahabhain, Tobermory and Deanston, alongside the mainstream blended brands Scottish Leader and Black Bottle. The company became part of the Trinidad-based conglomerate CL Financial in 2003, which also invests in rum through its ownership of Angostura and Hine Cognac.

KBC Business Capital is the specialist asset based lending division of Belgium banking Group KBC Bank NV. It funds mid-sized businesses in the UK with funding requirements starting at £2 million.

Wragge & Co is one of four firms appointed to KBC Bank's legal panel. The full-service appointment includes advising on asset based lending, property finance, corporate banking and employment. The latest deal for the client involved advising on its financing of Aluminiumwerk Unna AG to acquire the assets of BA Tubes Limited in a £7 million transaction.

The Banking and Finance team of 25 lawyers operate from offices in Birmingham and London, providing a genuinely partner-led service and top-quality legal advice. Its experts handle UK and cross-border asset based lending, structured finance and leveraged finance deals for lenders, issuers and borrowers.

Bringing a commercial and pragmatic approach to deals, the asset based lending team, led by partner Paula Laird, enjoys long-term relationships with leading players in the sector, including HSBC, Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance and GE Commercial Finance. Highlights in the past year include acting on the public-to-private transaction of the Lorien Group for Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance.

---

For further information about this press release, contact Kathryn Hobbs on +44 (0)121 213 2397, Alexa Highfield on +44 (0)121 213 2396 or Michelle Dolphin on +44 (0)121 213 2369

This press release may contain information of general interest about current legal issues, but does not give legal advice.