Nick Grootes

Director

Location Head Finance, Projects & Restructuring, South Africa

Emailnick.grootes@dlapiper.com

Call+27 (0)11 302 0837

Johannesburg

About

Areas of FocusFinance Corporate

Bar admissionsSolicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales, 2024Attorney of the High Court of South Africa, 2007

EXPERIENCE

Advised International Finance Corporation (IFC) as lender in respect of a USD40m term loan to BPR Bank Rwanda PLC.
Advised Debswana as borrower under a USD100m Revolving Credit Facility Agreement with Standard Chartered Bank as original lender.
Advised FirstRand Bank Limited (acting through its Rand Merchant Bank) as arranger and original lender in respect of a ZAR1bn Revolving Credit Facility to KWV Intellectual Properties Proprietary Limited.
Advised Phatisa Fund Managers on the debt finance aspects of their joint acquisition of International Facilities Services, a pan-African services company with operations in Mozambique, Mauritius, South Africa and the DRC. The debt value was USD20m.
Advised Solar Africa Energy in respect of the approximately ZAR2.1bn project financing for a solar plant at De Aar, Northern Cape, South Africa, linked to a main transmission substation development for Solar Africa Sun Central Holdings, its parent company.
Advised SolarAfrica Sun Central Holdings as issuer of ZAR376m preference shares to Rand Merchant Bank Investment and Advisory Proprietary Limited in connection with the funding of the construction and development of the main transmission substation for the De Aar solar field project.
Advised Skutwater Boerdery as issuer of B preference shares to AgDevCo Limited in a cross-border share issuance in connection with the upgrading and expansion of Skutwater’s agricultural operations.
Advised The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited and Standard Bank, Isle of Man Branch, in respect of a USD26m super senior facility to be provided to Bayport Limited, as part of the broader debt restructuring plan for approximately USD500m of debt of Bayport Financial Services across the UK, LATAM and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Advised a consortium of South African banks with their affiliates in Mauritius, Ghana, Nigeria, and Zambia in relation to:

the structuring of a refinancing of Tranche 1 (a USD120m portion of a broader USD300m term debt package) under Lango Real Estate Fund’s term debt package for its real estate assets in Ghana, Nigeria, and Zambia.
the implementation of all amendments required to the finance and facility documentation in Mauritius, Ghana, Zambia, and Nigeria to facilitate the refinancing.

Advised a consortium of South African banks and their affiliates on a multi-jurisdictional facility and security structure involving eight borrowers and ten Mauritian holding companies providing cross-collateralized guarantees.
Advised Nedbank Limited (acting through its Corporate and Investment Banking division) on a USD150m term and revolving credit facility for Paladin Energy Limited, an ASX-listed energy and minerals company, to fund the restart of the Langer Heinrich Uranium mine in Namibia through its Mauritian subsidiary.
Advised Nedbank Limited (acting through its Corporate and Investment Banking division) as arranger and 50% lender on a USD150m term and revolving credit facility for Paladin Energy Limited to fund the restart of the Langer Heinrich Uranium mine in Namibia. Our role included drafting the main funding documents, acting as lead counsel, reviewing mine-related due diligence, and securing shareholder consents. The facility contained covenants linked to uranium spot pricing, marking a significant reinvestment by Paladin in the Namibian uranium sector.
Advised The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited as arranger, together with a syndicate of three national banks, on the refinancing of approximately ZAR6bn term and revolving credit facilities to Burstone Offshore Proprietary Limited and Burstone Group Limited, secured by a portfolio of immovable properties in South Africa.