UPC/Sunrise updates U.S. and euro term loan sizes, pricing

By Sara Rosenberg

New York, Aug. 20 – UPC/Sunrise upsized its U.S. covenant-lite term loan B-1 due January 2029 at NewCo to $1.3 billion from $1.2 billion and its U.S. covenant-lite term loan B-2 due January 2029 at UPC to $1.3 billion from $1.2 billion, according to a market source.

The company downsized its euro covenant-lite term loan B-1 due January 2029 at NewCo to €400 million from €500 million and its euro covenant-lite term loan B-2 due January 2029 at UPC to €400 million from €500 million.

Also, price talk on the U.S. term loans and on the euro term loans was revised in the morning to a range of Libor/Euribor plus 325 basis points to 350 bps from just Libor/Euribor plus 350 bps, but shortly before noon, pricing on the term loans finalized at Libor/Euribor plus 350 bps, the source said.

Furthermore, the original issue discount on the U.S. term loan debt was modified to 99 from talk in the range of 98 to 98.5, and the discount on the euro term loan debt was set at 98.5, the tight end of the 98 to 98.5 talk, the source said.

All of the term loan debt still has a 0% floor and 101 soft call protection for six months.

The term loan B-1 and term loan B-2 debt will be allocated and trade as strips for each respective currency.

Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., BNP Paribas Securities Corp. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC are the global coordinators and joint bookrunners on the deal (B1/BB-/BB+), with Deutsche the left lead on the U.S debt. Other joint bookrunners include BofA Securities, Inc., Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and Bank of Nova Scotia.

Proceeds will be used to help fund the acquisition of Sunrise Communications Group AG for CHF 110 per share, representing a total enterprise value of CHF 6.8 billion, and to refinance existing debt.

Other funds for the acquisition will come from about CHF 3.5 billion of existing cash at UPC’s parent company, Liberty Global.

Upon becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Global, Sunrise will become part of the UPC credit pool and targeted leverage for this pool will be 5x, pro forma for this transaction, including vendor financing and leases.

Closing will occur following receipt of requisite regulatory approvals, which the parties expect to receive around year end, and satisfaction of other customary conditions.

UPC/Sunrise is an integrated video, broadband internet, fixed-line telephony and mobile services.

© 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.