Mediacom bid rises; Ford softens; Venetian Macau steady with amendment; Pilgrim's gets orders

By Sara Rosenberg

New York, Aug. 13 - Mediacom LLC's new term loan D ended the session bid higher than it was following its entrance into the secondary market late in the day on Wednesday, Ford Motor Co.'s term loan was weaker in trading and Venetian Macau's bank debt was firm with news that its amendment passed.

Over in the primary market, word surfaced that Pilgrim's Pride Corp.'s proposed exit financing credit facility already has a couple of hundred million in orders towards its term loan A and revolver tranches that were obtained during the agent round that was recently completed.

Mediacom better bid

Mediacom's new term loan D saw stronger bids on Thursday after breaking for trading late in the day during the previous session, according to a fund manager.

The term loan was quoted at par bid, par ¾ offered, compared to 99¾ bid, par¾ offered on Wednesday, the fund manager said.

As was somewhat expected, Mediacom announced on Thursday that it increased the tender offers for its 9½% senior notes due 2013 and 7 7/8% senior notes due 2011, removing the $500 million cap and offering to buy back all of the outstanding notes, according to a news release.

There is currently $500 million of 9½% notes outstanding and $125 million of 7 7/8% notes outstanding. This increase was done as a result of the new term loan D (Ba3/BB-) being upsized to $300 million from $200 million on Wednesday and its senior notes offering being upsized to $350 million from $300 million on Tuesday.

Pricing on the term loan D is Libor plus 350 basis points with a 2% Libor floor and the loan was sold at an original issue discount of 981/2. The discount finalized tight of the initial 98 area talk.

JPMorgan and Bank of America Merrill Lynch are the lead banks on the term loan D.

Mediacom is a Middletown, N.Y.-based cable company.

Ford term loan slides

Ford's term loan headed lower during market hours with the debt quoted at 85 5/8 bid, 86 1/8 offered, down from 86¼ bid, 87¼ offered on Wednesday, according to a trader.

On Thursday, the Dearborn, Mich.-based automotive company announced that it is increasing North American production in the third and fourth quarters to respond to growing demand and to ensure dealers are well stocked with fuel-efficient vehicles eligible for the "Cash for Clunkers" program.

Third-quarter production is being increased by another 10,000 units to 495,000 units primarily to build additional Escape small utility vehicles and Focus small cars.

In the fourth quarter, the company plans to produce 570,000 vehicles, which is 33% higher than year-ago levels and 15% above the third-quarter production plan.

Venetian Macau holds firm

Venetian Macau's strip of institutional bank debt was steady as the company's amendment was approved by lenders, according to a trader.

The strip was quoted at 90½ bid, 91½ offered, basically unchanged from Wednesday's levels of 90½ bid, 92 offered, the trader said.

In an 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, the company revealed that it completed its amendment that allows for the issuance of notes and equity, and results in higher loan pricing.

Under the amendment, the company is permitted to sell up to $1 billion of senior secured notes if proceeds from those notes are used to prepay loans.

The company is also allowed to sell $500 million of senior unsecured notes if the consolidated leverage ratio is not greater than 3.0 times after giving pro forma effect to the issuance of the notes and the maturity date of the notes is outside the final maturity date of the credit facility.

In addition, the company can sell equity. However, the lesser of the net proceeds from the sale and $500 million must be used to prepay loans on a pro rata basis with a concurrent permanent reduction in the revolving commitments equal to the amount of revolving debt prepaid.

Venetian Macau pricing increases

As a result of the amendment, pricing on Venetian Macau's facility was increased by 325 bps to Libor plus 550 bps. However, once $500 million of proceeds from permitted equity sales is applied to prepay the loans, pricing will step down by 100 bps to Libor plus 450 bps.

Also as part of the amendment, the maximum consolidated leverage ratio was increased by 1.0 times for the four quarters beginning July 1 and by 0.5 times for the two quarters beginning July 1, 2010.

Furthermore, the company is now allowed to get an uncommitted delayed start revolver that can be established on or after the termination date of the existing revolver in an amount not to exceed the outstanding revolving loan commitments.

The amendment was completed on Aug. 12.

The Bank of Nova Scotia is the administrative agent on the deal.

Venetian Macau is a subsidiary of Las Vegas Sands Corp., a Las Vegas-based hotel, gaming, resort and exhibition/convention company.

BWIC surfaces

Bids were due on a $128 million BWIC on Thursday, according to a trader.

"I think it's the first one in a while," the trader remarked.

Details on the outcome of the auction were not available prior to press time.

Pilgrim's has over $500 million in orders

Switching to new deal happenings, Pilgrim's Pride wrapped up the first round of syndication on its proposed exit financing credit facility, which was for agent banks, and, according to a market source, the round resulted in $525 million in commitments towards the revolver and term loan A.

And, that $525 million does not include commitments from the joint lead arrangers on the deal - CoBank and Rabobank, the source said.

The $525 million was raised through five commitments for agent roles; however, details on which banks placed the orders are not available as of yet, the source added.

The three-year revolver is sized at $500 million and talked at Libor plus 450 bps and the three-year term loan A is sized at $375 million and talked at Libor plus 500 bps.

The revolver, which is subject to a borrowing base, and the term loan A are being sold pro rata.

Pilgrim's expecting rollover for B loan

Pilgrim's Pride's $1.65 billion exit facility also includes a $775 million five-year term loan B that is talked at Libor plus 500 bps.

The company currently has an existing deal with CoBank, and the expectation is that the institutions involved in that deal will roll their commitments into the new term loan B, a source previously told Prospect News.

That source explained that the rollover expectation is based partly on the fact that the new term loan B has more investor friendly terms than the existing deal.

There will be upfront fees on the revolver, term loan A and term loan B, but details on those fees are not yet available.

Financial covenants under the facility include leverage, fixed-charge coverage and capital expenditures requirements.

Security is the company's fixed and current assets.

A bank meeting to launch the deal into general syndication took place this past Wednesday in Dallas.

Pilgrim's Pride is a Pittsburg, Texas-based poultry processor.

Affinia closes

Affinia Group Inc. closed on its new $315 million four-year ABL revolving credit facility, according to a news release.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank acted as the lead banks on the deal.

The revolver is priced at Libor plus 400 bps and has an undrawn fee that can range from 75 bps to 100 bps.

Proceeds from the revolver, along with $225 million of notes, were used to refinance the company's existing term loan, revolver and accounts receivable securitization facility.

Affinia is an Ann Arbor, Mich., on- and off-highway replacement products and services company.

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