LOANS LEVERAGED LOANS
2ATINGSûAREû""
ûCORPORATEû""
ûlRST
LIENû
and Caa2/CCC second-lien.
Livingston is owned by Sterling Partners
and CPP Investment Board.
Technology company XPERI CORP, formerly
known as Tessera Holding, has wrapped up
the repricing of its US$596m term loan due
in December 2023.
Royal Bank of Canada led the deal, which
will be reduced to US$494m following a
planned prepayment of roughly US$100m.
The loan cleared at 250bp over Libor with
AûûmOORûATûPARûINûLINEûWITHûGUIDANCE
Lenders received a six-month, 101 soft call
refresher.
Xperi arranged the loan, originally sized
at US$600m, in 2016 to back its acquisition
of DTS. The debt priced at 300bp over Libor.
Ratings are Ba3/BB- corporate and facility.
EUROPE/MIDDLE EAST/
AFRICA
EG LAUNCHES €3.5bn LOAN
UK petrol station operator EG GROUP has
LAUNCHEDûAûJUMBOûõBN
EQUIVALENTû
leveraged loan to back acquisitions and
RElNANCEûEXISTINGûDEBT
!ûõMû4,"ûOFûWHICHûõMûWILLûBEû
delayed draw, is guided to pay 400bp-425bp
over Euribor. A US$500m TLB, of which
US$185m is delayed draw, is guided to pay
425bp-450bp over Libor, while a £400m TLB
ISûGUIDEDûTOûPAYûBP
BPûOVERû,IBOR
All three term loans have a seven-year
MATURITYûANDûAREûOFFEREDûWITHûAûûmOORû
99.5 OID and 101 soft-call for six months.
Ticking fees on the term loans, including the
delayed draws, are 0% of the margins for the
lRSTûûDAYSûûOFûTHEûMARGINSûBETWEENûû
and 60 days and 100% of the margins thereafter.
4HEûlNANCINGûALSOûCOMPRISESûAûaMû
YEARûMULTI
CURRENCYûREVOLVINGûCREDITû
facility guided to pay 300bp over Euribor/
,IBORûANDûAûõMû
YEARûLETTERûOFûCREDITû
guided to pay 200bp over Euribor.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays and
Goldman Sachs AREûLEADINGûTHEûJUMBOû
lNANCINGûALONGSIDEûCredit Suisse, Deutsche
Bank, ING, Lloyds, Rabobank, RBC and UBS.
Corporate family and TLB ratings are
expected to be B2/B/B, with a recovery rating
of 3.
The loan will back the acquisition of 1,165
%SSOûSITESûINû)TALYûANDûû%SSOûSITESûINû
'ERMANYûASûWELLûASûRElNANCINGû%'û'ROUPSû
outstanding debt facilities that include
£620m and €914m of term loans.
TDR Capital-owned EG Group, formerly
known as Euro Garages, acquired UK
roadside restaurant Little Chef in February,
INCLUDINGûûROADSIDEûSITESûFROMûTHEû+OUTû
Food Group.
It was last in the loan market in April
ûWHENûITûREPRICEDûITSûaMûANDûõMû
term loans, at 500bp over Libor and 400bp
over Euribor, respectively. Both loans were
OFFEREDûWITHûAûûmOORûANDûANû/)$ûOFû
Prior to that, the company tapped the
loan market in October 2016 for an
õM
EQUIVALENTûLOANûBACKINGûITSûMERGERû
with European Forecourt Retail.
TDR acquired a £1.3bn minority stake in
Euro Garages in January 2016, backed by a
aMûlNANCINGûSPLITûBETWEENûAûaMû
seven-year TLB and a £250m-equivalent
euro-denominated TLB.
ZENTIVA FINANCING PREPPED
Bankers have put together around €1.2bn of
DEBTûlNANCINGûTOûBACKûAûPOTENTIALûSALEûOFû
French drug maker SANOFI’s European
generic drug business as the sale process
kicks off.
Rothschild, JP Morgan and Morgan
Stanley are advising on the sale of the unit,
known as ZENTIVA, which could be worth
more than €2bn.
4HEûSALEûISûEXPECTEDûTOûATTRACTûSIGNIlCANTû
ATTENTIONûFROMûPRIVATEûEQUITYûlRMSûANDû
INDUSTRYûPEERSûANDûlRST
ROUNDûBIDSûAREûDUEû
in an auction process on January 23.
JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley are providing
AûSTAPLEûlNANCINGûTOûPOTENTIALûBUYERSû
EQUATINGûTOûAROUNDûûTIMESû:ENTIVASû
approximate €155m Ebitda.
The staple includes senior leveraged loans
and subordinated debt that could be in the
form of high yield bonds or second-lien
loans. There will also be undrawn facilities.
Other banks are also working on debt
lNANCINGSûTOûOFFERûTOûPOTENTIALûBIDDERSûASû
THEûASSETûISûQUITEûATTRACTIVEûFROMûAûlNANCINGû
perspective.
“At seven times, there is not much more
punchy a staple can get,” a senior banker said.
3TAPLEûlNANCINGSûCANûBEûATTRACTIVEûTOû
potential buyers, reassured by a certainty of
debt funding.
3ANOlûSTARTEDûTOûDISENTANGLEûTHEû
European generics business from its global
operations toward the end of 2016, after
announcing its plans to sell the unit. It said
last year it was expecting to complete the
sale by the end of 2018.
)Nû*ANUARYûû3ANOlûlNALISEDûAû
53BNûASSETûSWAPûDEALûWITHû'ERMANûlRMû
"OEHRINGERûFORû3ANOlSû-ERIALûANIMALûHEALTHû
arm.
ALTRAN DETAILS LOAN
French technology consultancy ALTRAN has
released price guidance on the €2.125bn-
equivalent term loan B backing its
acquisition of US digital design and
ENGINEERINGûSERVICESûlRMûARICENT.
The loan will comprise a dollar tranche of
at least US$300m, and the rest will be in
euros.
The euro and dollar tranches have
respective initial margins of 300bp and
BPûASSUMINGûõMûOFûEQUITYûFORûTHEû
deal, putting net leverage at 3.0-3.5 times
Ebitda.
The margin ratchet on the tranches falls
TOûBPûANDûBPûRESPECTIVELYûIFûNETû
LEVERAGEûDROPSûBELOWûûTIMESûITûRISESûTOû
325p and 300bp for 3.5-4.0 times, topping
out at 350bp and 325bp respectively for over
4.0 times.
Both tranches are offered at 99.5 with a
ûmOORûANDûHAVEûSIXûMONTHSûOFûSOFTûCALLû
protection at 101.
Altran’s pro forma net leverage will
INCREASEûTOûûTIMESûITSûADJUSTEDû%BITDAûOFû
õMûFORûTHEûYEARûTOû3EPTEMBERûûû)Tû
plans to delever to 2.5 times within two
years of closing the deal as expected this
quarter.
The seven-year senior secured term loan,
alongside a €250m bridge facility, will pay
THEûõBNûPRICEûTAGûFORû!RICENTûANDû
RElNANCEûEXISTINGûDEBT
Leads had started marketing the bridge
facility to Altran’s relationship banks
following the acquisition’s announcement
in December.
Credit Agricole CIB, Goldman Sachs and
Morgan Stanley underwrote the loan and will
ALSOûUNDERWRITEûAûõMûRIGHTSûISSUEûTOû
RElNANCEûPARTûOFûTHEûCOMMITTEDûlNANCING
A shareholder meeting to authorise the
rights issue is scheduled for January 26.
Altran’s acquisition of California-based
Aricent from a group of investors led by KKR
is the largest of a series of deals done by the
French business, and will create a group
with revenue of almost €3bn.
AMG SHOPS DOLLAR REFI
Dutch AMG ADVANCED METALLURGICAL GROUP is in
the market with a US$500m loan led by
HSBC with Citigroup.
4HEûlNANCINGûCOMPRISESûAû53MûlVE
year revolving credit facility and a US$300m
SEVEN
YEARûlRST
LIENûTERMûLOAN
The term loan is guided in the 300bp-
BPûOVERû,IBORûRANGEûWITHûûmOORûANDûAû
99.5 OID.
Lenders are offered six months of soft-call
protection at 101.
0ROCEEDSûWILLûBEûUSEDûTOûRElNANCEûEXISTINGû
DEBTûlNANCEûGROWTHûINITIATIVESûANDûFORû
general corporate purposes.
AMG amended its existing credit facility
in July 2016, upsizing it to US$400m from
US$320m and extending the maturity to July
2021 from May 2018.
HSBC ran the amendment with Lloyds,
5NI#REDITû"ANKûANDû&IFTHû4HIRDû"ANKûASûJOINTû