Cuatrecasas advises ECI on €960m ICO-backed financing

Cuatrecass has advised El Corte Inglés on the signing of a financing contract for €960 million, with the Official Credit Institute (ICO) guarantee facility

The financing contract is guaranteed by the Instituto de Crédito Oficial under the guarantee facility created by Royal Decree-Law 8/2020 of 17 March, with a coverage of 60%.

Thanks to this operation, announced by Iberian lawyer on July 2, with DLA Piper advising the bank syndicate, the group has transferred part of the syndicated revolving credit line signed last April, for an initial amount of €1,341 million (reduced to €406 million in this operation), in which negotiation Cuatrecasas also acted as adviser.

Nine national and international financial institutions (Santander, BBVA, Caixabank, Sabadell, Bankia, Crédit Agricole, Ibercaja, Kutxabank and Liberbank) have signed the new agreement, thanks to which ECI ensures its liquidity for a period of more than one year and without guarantees to meet the financial needs arising from the Covid-19 crisis.

According to the firm, this financing operation shows the confidence of the banks in the company, after years in which it has significantly reduced its debt and improved its financial situation.

Cuatrecasas advised El Corte Inglés with a team formed by Finance partner Miguel Cruz Ropero (pictured) and Finance associate Nuria Burillo.