Maxar Technologies term loan strengthens on buyout news; Robertshaw flat with downgrade

By Sara Rosenberg

New York, Dec. 16 – Maxar Technologies Inc.’s term loan B headed higher in the secondary market on Friday after it was announced that the company is being bought out by Advent International.

Also, Robertshaw US Holding Corp.’s first-lien term loan held steady in trading following a downgrade by Moody’s Investors Service, and B&G Foods Inc.’s term loan was unmoved by its Back to Nature brand sale announcement.

Maxar rises

Maxar Technologies’ term loan B moved up to 99½ bid, par ¼ offered on Friday from 97½ bid, 98 offered on Thursday following an early morning disclosure that the company is being purchased by Advent, according to a trader.

Funding for the buyout and related fees and expenses will come from a debt financing commitment from certain direct lenders, $4.1 billion of equity, preferred equity and company cash on hand, the company revealed in an 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Maxar is being bought for $53.00 per share in cash in a transaction with an enterprise value of around $6.4 billion.

Closing is expected in mid-2023, subject to customary conditions, including approval by Maxar stockholders and receipt of regulatory approvals.

Maxar is a Westminster, Colo.-based provider of comprehensive space solutions and secure, precise, geospatial intelligence.

Robertshaw steady

Robertshaw’s first-lien term loan was quoted by traders at 70 bid, 74 offered, unchanged from previous levels, after Moody’s downgraded the company’s corporate family rating to Caa3 from Caa1, first-lien senior secured term loan to Caa2 from Caa1 and second-lien senior secured term loan to Ca from Caa3. Moody’s also changed the outlook to negative from stable.

One trader said that the ratings news was already “pretty much priced in” to the first-lien term loan levels since it was in the C-category prior to the downgrade.

According to Moody’s, the downgrades reflect the company’s high refinancing risk within the next 12 months and persistent negative free cash flow that will be exacerbated by a decline in profitability as demand for the company’s products has weakened considerably.

Moody’s also expects adjusted debt-to-EBITDA to remain at unsustainable levels of above 10x for some time with an untenable capital structure.

Robertshaw is an Itasca, Ill.-based designer and manufacturer of systems and controls used in residential and commercial appliances, HVAC and transportation applications.

B&G Foods flat

B&G Foods’ 2026 term loan was quoted at 93¾ bid, 95¾ offered, in line with previous levels, on the back of a late Thursday announcement that it is selling its Back to Nature brand to Barilla America, a market source remarked.

Proceeds from the sale are planned to be used for the repayment of long-term debt.

Closing is expected in the first quarter of 2023, subject to customary conditions.

B&G Foods is a Parsippany, N.J.-based manufacturer, seller and distributor of shelf-stable and frozen foods.

Fund flows

In other news, actively managed loan fund flows on Thursday were negative $96 million and loan ETFs were negative $35 million, market sources said.

Loan funds reported weekly outflows totaling $1.18 billion, including negative $292 million ETFs. This was the seventeenth consecutive outflow and the twenty sixth outflow over the last 27 weeks, and the largest outflows for loan funds since the week ending Oct. 12, sources continued.

The last 17 weeks’ outflows totaling $15.1 billion equate to 17.8% of weekly AUM.

Net inflows for loan funds since the beginning of 2021 are down to $37 billion, and dedicated loan fund AUM is down to $105.8 billion from as much as $142.4 billion in May.

Year to date outflows for loan funds total $9.4 billion, including negative $2.9 billion ETF, sources added.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.