Citizens Financial : Bank Leads $74 Million Credit Facility for Barteca Holdings

01/04/2016

NORWALK, CT - Citizens Bank announced today that it acted as Left Lead Arranger and Administrative Agent on a $74 million credit facility for Barteca Holdings.

In conjunction with the financing, Barteca Holdings also received a minority investment from General Atlantic, a leading growth equity firm. General Atlantic joins existing investor Rosser Capital Partners, a private investment firm focused on investing in restaurant, consumer and retail companies. The credit facility refinanced the company's existing indebtedness, and also includes a sizable development line which will be used to build multiple new restaurants.

Founded in 1995 by Andy Pforzheimer, Chief Executive Officer, and Sasa Mahr-Batuz, Creative Director, Barteca Holdings is the parent company of acclaimed restaurants Barcelona Wine Bar and Bartaco. Barcelona Wine Bar, a warm and welcoming Spanish tapas bar serving small plates of food using the finest seasonal picks from local markets and unusual specialties from Spain and the Mediterranean, is an upscale restaurant operating in 12 locations. Bartaco, a more casual restaurant that brings upscale street food with a coastal vibe into a relaxed and stylish environment, operates in 10 locations.

'Sasa and I created Barteca with the goal of providing our guests with a unique dining experience, where great food and attentive service are fun, stylish and accessible,' said Andy Pforzheimer, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Barteca. Jacob Organek, Co-Founder and Partner of Rosser Capital Partners, added 'Citizens Bank's Restaurant Finance team has been tremendous in helping accelerate Barteca's growth over the last several years. We are excited to further expand our partnership through this new financing, and for the new investment from General Atlantic.'

'The Barteca management team, along with Rosser Capital Partners, has built two of the most talked about growth concepts in the restaurant industry. With the addition of General Atlantic, the company is now poised to reach even greater heights,' said Thomas Hung, Senior Vice President and Head of Chain Restaurants with Citizens Bank's Restaurant Finance group.

Citizens Bank's Restaurant Finance group is a leading national lender focused on meeting the capital needs of multi-unit restaurant owners nationwide including franchisors, franchisees, chain restaurants, and sponsor-owned restaurant operating companies. For more information, go toCitizens Bank.

About Citizens Financial Group, Inc.

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is one of the nation's oldest and largest financial institutions, with $135.4 billion in assets as of September 30, 2015. Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, Citizens offers a broad range of retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle‐market companies, large corporations and institutions. In Consumer Banking, Citizens helps its retail customers 'bank better' with mobile and online banking, a 24/7 customer contact center and the convenience of approximately 3,200 ATMs and approximately 1,200 Citizens Bank branches in 11 states in the New England, Mid‐Atlantic and Midwest regions. Citizens also provides mortgage lending, auto lending, student lending and commercial banking services in select markets nationwide. In Commercial Banking, Citizens offers corporate, institutional and not‐for‐profit clients a full range of wholesale banking products and services including lending and deposits, capital markets, treasury services, foreign exchange and interest hedging, leasing and asset finance, specialty finance and trade finance.

Citizens operates through its subsidiaries Citizens Bank, N.A., and Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania. Additional information about Citizens and its full line of products and services can be found at www.citizensbank.com.