A new credit facility introduced by Marston’s, the brewer and pub operator, in 2009 has won an award for deal of the year.
The Treasurer, the official magazine for the Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT), rated the £295m forward start facility as one of the best deals in mid-market loans last year, closely followed by an equity rights issue by Tullow Oil.
ACT said that Marston’s innovative deal “validated the model as a means of securing medium term liquidity for borrowers facing refinancing risk and was swiftly adopted as capital markets withered”.
Andrew Andrea, Marston’s finance director, said: “A three-year forward start revolving credit facility, following on from our existing facility, secured finance for Marston’s at favourable terms for over four years in a difficult market.
“It was a bold step and an innovative deal, which others have since repeated at greater cost. The strong support of our relationship banks throughout the process was critical to its success.”
