Stapled debt usually means that the vendor provides or arranges the debt for bidders. This is not commonly offered in the infrastructure sector, but it was offered on the 2009 sale of Gatwick Airport.3 Stapled debt is currently being offered for the sale of EdF's UK power networks,4 and is anticipated to be offered for the sale of HSBC Rail.5
When debt is linked or stapled to the borrower, anyone acquiring the borrower will need to refinance the debt on acquisition.
There are also circumstances where different tranches of funding are stapled together so that one cannot be refinanced or disposed of separately from the other. This most commonly occurs when equity investments-for example, share capital and loan notes-are stapled together.