Rymarz Zdort Maruta advises Bridgepoint on the sale of 100% of the shares in SMYK Group and advises SMYK Group in amending financing terms and conditions and extending term of such financing

We are pleased to announce that we advised Bridgepoint on the sale of 100% of the shares in the Smyk Group to Michał Grom, Maciej Zużałek and the AMC fund, which is managed by Accession Capital Partners (ACP). The aim of the transaction is to implement measures to strengthen SMYK’s development and maintain its operational and financial growth. We also advised the SMYK Group in a parallel process of extending the term of its financing, which was associated with the aforementioned sale of shares. As lead legal counsel to the borrowers, we coordinated work in three jurisdictions outside Poland.

Smyk is Poland’s largest chain of stores selling toys, clothing for children and related accessories. It has more than 280 outlets, including 31 in Romania and 10 in Ukraine, as well as an extensive network of retail partners in Europe and Asia. Smyk had been part of Brigdepoint since 2016.

Bridgepoint is one of the world’s leading exchange-listed investors, specialising in private equity and private debt investments. With more than EUR 39.5 billion in assets under management and a strong local presence in Europe, the US and China, it combines a global scale with local market insights and sector expertise, consistently delivering strong returns through cycles.

The transaction team comprised: Paweł Zdort (managing partner), Małgorzata Deruś (senior associate), Aleksander Jakubisiak (associate) and Szymon Marcinak (associate). A team made up of Jakub Rachwol (partner), Marcin Gruszka (counsel), Engjell Sokoli (associate) and Filip Książczak (associate) further advised on issues related to the financing of the SMYK Group.

“In terms of the part involving the company’s bank debt, this was a challenging transaction for a number of reasons. The timetable in the run-up to closing was extremely tight for such a complex reorganisation of the group’s debt, and the M&A process and the financing rearrangements had to be perfectly aligned, as they were interdependent”, said Jakub Rachwol, the partner and co-head of the banking and finance practice at Rymarz Zdort Maruta.