Moody’s gives NextPharma, loans B3

Moody’s Investors Service said it gave a B3 corporate family rating and B3-PD probability of default rating to Bowtie German Bidco GmbH, the top entity of NextPharma’s restricted group. Simultaneously, Moody assigned a B3 instrument rating to the €290 million senior secured term loan B and the €37.4 million senior secured revolving credit facility. A stable outlook has been assigned.

Proceeds alongside equity, will be used to finance the fund transfer from CapVest III to CapVest Fund IV and CapVest Strategic Opportunities Fund IV, refinance debt and pay for the acquisition of two manufacturing facilities from Lonza Group AG (Lonza).

“The fund transfer is driven by the maturity of the current vehicle and CapVest’s willingness to stay invested in the company. The acquisition of Lonza sites, located in Ploermel and Edinburgh, will provide NextPharma access to new technologies, strengthen its presence in France and expand its European manufacturing footprint to Scotland. The transaction is a re-leveraging event for NextPharma because of the debt-funded acquisition of Lonza assets,” Moody’s said in a press release.

The outlook reflects an expectation NextPharma will continue to benefit from the overall solid market fundamentals, allowing its EBITDA to continue growing on an organic basis. The agency said it also forecasts Moody’s-adjusted leverage will decline towards 5.5x in the next 12-18 months.

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