Barclays’ cash has gone to Iceland
In what is believed to be one of the largest single-bank financing deals in the Midlands this year, Barclays in Birmingham has agreed a £110m facility for frozen food retailer Iceland.
Brokered by Keith Parry, a retail specialist at Barclays and manager of the relationship with North Wales-based Iceland, and worked through by Matthew Potter and Tom Bird from Barclays Corporate’s debt finance team based at One Snowhill in Birmingham, the refinancing package took just four weeks from start to finish.
It is unusual in the current climate for a finance package of this size to be agreed with one bank rather than through a multi-bank “club” arrangement. In a statement, Iceland’s chief finance officer, Tarsem Dhaliwal, said: “Iceland Foods Group has successfully refinanced with Barclays Corporate Bank providing competitive and flexible terms to allow the continued expansion of the group.
The refinancing process took only four weeks through to draw-down, achieving our required year-end deadline.”
