Turkey's largest food group Yildiz Holding expects to complete the financing of its acquisition of British-based cookies and snacks maker United Biscuits (IPO-UNI.L) in 10 days, its chief executive said on Tuesday. Yildiz on Monday bought United Biscuits from private equity owners Blackstone Group and PAI Partners in an estimated 2 billion pound ($3.2 billion) deal, which it said made it the world's third-biggest biscuit maker."We will fund 60 percent of the deal from our own pocket, and obtain the remaining 40 percent from financing institutions. We will make the payment in 10 days," Murat Ulker, chairman of Yildiz Holding, told a press conference.HSBC has underwritten a leveraged loan backing the acquisition, banking sources said on Tuesday.Yildiz, a food and beverage maker which owns Ulker Biskuvi , did not give financial details, but sources familiar with the deal and other media reports said it was worth over 2 billion pounds including debt.
The Blackstone Group L.P. (Blackstone) is a manager of private capital and provider of financial advisory services. Shares of BX traded higher by 0.13% or $0.04/share to $30.34. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $25.60 and as high as $36.08. On average, 4791420 shares of BX exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 2127087.
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