Shearman & Sterling is acting as US, English and French law counsel to Crédit Suisse, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Crédit Agricole CIB and Société Générale in connection with the €1.6 billion acquisition by Lion Capital of French frozen food company Picard.

Shearman & Sterling advised on the €300 million offering of high yield bonds issued in connection with the transaction, as well as a related stand-by bridge facility agreement.

The financing was provided under a “double LuxCo” structure. This is the first time this structure has been used in connection with a high yield bond financing.

Picard is the leading frozen food retailer in France. It operates more than 800 stores, and generated €1.15 billion in revenue and €160 million of EBITDA in 2009.

The Shearman & Sterling team advising in connection with the high yield financing included finance partners Caroline Leeds Ruby and Pierre-Nicolas Ferrand, assisted by associates Cedric Van den Borren, Yumi Paringaux and Régis Henry and by trainee Blake Spencer. European counsel Aline Cardin and associates Philippe Wolanski, Barbara Le Chapellier and Alexae Fournier also assisted with respect to French law matters. Capital markets partner Jacques McChesney led the team on the related bridge financing assisted by counsel Peter Hayes and associate Henry Peacock.