Watson Farley & Williams Paris (“WFW”) has advised a consortium of lenders comprising Amundi, Banque Populaire Auvergne Rhône Alpes, BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, HSBC Continental Europe and Société Générale on the financing of the acquisition by leading international school supplies group Maped of French wooden and cardboard games and toys specialist Juratoys and several of its foreign subsidiaries (including in the US, UK, Italy, Spain and Hong Kong).
Maped acquired JuraToys from European investment fund Argos Wityu as part of its diversification plans to offer complementary learning products outside the paper sector. The Juratoys brands, meanwhile, will benefit from Maped’s global reach extending to over 120 countries across five continents.
The WFW Paris team was led by Finance Partner Philippe Wolanski, supported by Associates Margaux Guennec Testu and Jihanne Flegeau-Kihal and Trainee Bastien Heppe. Counsel Guillaume Pouyet and Associate Thibaut de Toytot advised on the M&A aspects of the transaction.
For the financing part of the transaction Maped were advised by Natixis Partners (Virginie Gasnier, Emmanuel Noguès and Martin Chalanset) and DELSOL Avocats (Séverine Bravard and Arthur Collet).
