Clarivate launches $1.6 billion term loan B at Libor plus 300-325 bps

By Sara Rosenberg

New York, Sept. 15 – Clarivate plc launched on its call on Tuesday a $1.6 billion incremental senior secured covenant-lite term loan B (B2) due Oct. 31, 2026 with price talk of Libor plus 300 basis points to 325 bps with a 1% Libor floor and an original issue discount of 99, according to a market source.

The term loan has 101 soft call protection for six months and amortization of 1% per annum, the source said.

Citigroup Global Markets Inc., BofA Securities Inc., RBC Capital Markets, Barclays, HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC are the joint lead arrangers on the deal. BofA is the administrative agent.

Commitments are due at 5 p.m. ET on Sept. 22, the source added.

The term loan is being done in connection with the company’s combination with CPA Global and will be used with cash on hand to refinance about $2 billion of CPA Global’s debt.

Under the merger agreement, CPA Global shareholders will receive about 218 million Clarivate ordinary shares, representing 35% pro forma fully diluted ownership of Clarivate. The implied enterprise value is $6.8 billion, which includes around $900 million of the present value of tax assets.

Closing is expected in early October.

Giving effect to the refinancing, net leverage will be around 4.2x based on pro forma LTM June 20 stand-alone adjusted EBITDA of $766 million.

Clarivate is a Philadelphia-based provider of comprehensive intellectual property and scientific information, decision support tools and services. CPA Global is a provider of intellectual property software and tech-enabled services.

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