Hagemeyer, the Dutch business-to-business distributor that was investigating a number of refinancing options including disposal to a private equity firm, has instead turned to a rights issue and the equity-linked market to restructure its debt.

Lehman Brothers advised Hagemeyer and ABN Amro was the leader of the lending syndicate of 24 banks involved in the restructuring, which will see Rob ter Haar, the current chief executive officer, step down.