Hogan Lovells advises ad hoc group of noteholders in Nitrogenművek Zrt. Restructuring

This is a rare example of a Hungarian company successfully implementing a restructuring of international bonds on a fully consensual basis. Under the terms of the restructuring, the company’s existing EUR200m senior unsecured bonds due 2025 were exchanged for the issuance of new secured bonds maturing on 30 June 2028 on a par for par basis.  The new bonds benefit from a substantive security package and improvements to the bond covenants.

The transaction included a novel offering to bondholders whereby they were able to choose between exchanging their existing notes for definitive notes issued by Nitrogenművek Zrt., or listed and cleared notes issued by a special purpose vehicle which entered into back-to-back financing arrangements with Nitrogenművek Zrt. This split-offering structure was deployed to address Hungarian regulatory requirements.

The Hogan Lovells team was led by London-based Restructuring & Special Situations partner Alex Kay with support from counsel Jonathan Morris and senior associate Freddie Doust. Additional support was provided by partner Jonathan Lewis (capital markets, Sao Paulo) and senior counsel Andrew Carey (capital markets, London), associated partner Sándor Békési (Budapest) and senior associate Gábor Koszó (Banking and Finance, Budapest).