INTEGRITES advised NOVUS and UNIVER on structure, documentation and filing the issuance of UAH 400 million (approx. EUR 10 million) corporate bonds in the local market. The bonds are secured by the mortgage provided by NOVUS group of companies and overseen by INTEGRITES as an independent bond administrator entity. Initiated in late 2023 and led by the arranger – Univer Capital, a licenced investment firm, the project came to formal submission to the securities regulator in May 2024, while the temporary issue certificate was granted in September this year.
The corporate bonds of NOVUS Ukraine LLC will become available to investors starting from September 26, 2024, soon after the approval obtained from the NSSMC (National Securities and Stock Market Commission).
The case comes ground-breaking for both retail and legal services industry, as it has become the first of the kind in Ukraine to introduce a non-banking organisation as an independent bond administrator. The team of INTEGRITES leveraged experience in policy shaping and public advocacy to contribute to development of regulations that enabled non-banking organisations, including law firms, to act as bond issue administrator. In this regard, INTEGRITES acted to set a precedent and shape the framework for other actors in the debt securities markets.
Along with playing the leading role in the advocacy efforts, the lawyers of INTEGRITES developed the first template contract on bond issue administration for the industry which is reflective of the best practices in the Eurobonds, as well as handled the conclusion of the mortgage agreement.
Led by Managing partner, Dr. Oleksiy Feliv, and Partner, Dr. Oleh Zahnitko, the team working on the landmark case included Counsel Vasyl Yurmanovych, Senior Associates Yuriy Korchev and Serhii Datsiv.
About NOVUS
NOVUS is one of the top 5 national grocery retailers and part of BT Invest holding (Lithuania). It has been present in Ukraine since 2009. As of 2024, the company operates 84 NOVUS supermarkets, 22 Mi-Market convenience stores and 2 Khapaika discounters. NOVUS Group is one of the largest retail real estate operators in Ukraine. NOVUS is an experienced participant in the capital markets with experience of cooperation with international and other major financial institutions and a total amount of attracted investments of over EUR 150 million. According to publicly available data, the estimated amount of losses incurred by NOVUS due to the damage caused to the supermarket chain as a result of the Russian invasion exceeds EUR 12 million.
About UNIVER
Ukrainian investment group UNIVER, which has been engaged in brokerage, dealer and depository activities since 2005, conducts underwriting and provides portfolio management services for financial instruments and assets of institutional investors.