Alderwoods hits the secondary at par 5/8 bid; Goodyear breaks at 101 bid

By Sara Rosenberg

New York, Aug. 13 - Alderwoods Group Inc. and The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.'s bank facilities broke for trading in Friday's market, with both deals remaining at pretty steady levels throughout the session.

Alderwoods' term loan B was quoted at par 5/8 bid, 101 offered and Goodyear was quoted at 101 bid, 101¼ offered, according to traders. Although, one trader did think that the bid fell off slightly on Goodyear's term loan by the end of the day with a level of par 7/8.

Alderwoods Group Inc.'s $368 million term loan B (BB-) is priced with an interest rate of Libor plus 275 basis points.

This term loan is part of an amended and restated credit agreement that includes increasing the revolver to $75 million from $50 million.

Proceeds are being used to help fund the repurchase of Alderwood's outstanding 12¼% senior notes due 2009 and the repayment of all outstanding borrowings under its subordinated loan due 2005.

Bank of America is the lead bank on the Cincinnati-based funeral home and cemetery operator's deal.

Goodyear's upsized $680 million term loan due 2007 (B1/B+) is priced with an interest rate of Libor plus 450 basis points and is secured by a third lien on current company assets. The tranche was initially launched with a size of $500 million.

JPMorgan is the lead bank on the Akron, Ohio, tire company's deal that will be used to refinance the $680 million senior secured U.S. revolver, which matures on April 30, 2005.

Nortek reverse flex rumored

Rumor has it that since syndication of Nortek Holdings Inc.'s $700 million seven-year term loan is going so well with more than $1 billion heard to be in the books, a reverse flex on the current Libor plus 275 basis points pricing may be coming soon, according to a market source.

And, the fact that the company's $625 million 10-year senior subordinated notes priced Thursday at the low end of talk only helps to fuel the bank debt price cut speculation. The bonds priced at par to yield 8½%. Price talk had been 8½% to 8¾%.

Nortek's $800 million credit facility (B1/B+) also contains a $100 million six-year revolver with an interest rate of Libor plus 250 basis points and a 50 basis points commitment fee.

UBS and Credit Suisse First Boston are the lead banks on the deal that launched during the last week of July, with UBS listed on the left.

Proceeds, combined with proceeds from the bond deal, will be used to help fund Thomas H. Lee Partners', in partnership with management, approximately $1.75 billion acquisition of Nortek.

Both the credit facility and the bonds are expected to close on Aug. 27.

Nortek, a Providence, R.I., designer, manufacturer and marketer of residential and commercial building products, is owned by some members of management and Kelso and Co. LP.

Agco tweaked repricing approved

Agco Corp. received lender approval to amend its credit facility to lower the interest rate on its U.S. and euro term loans, with the amendment slated to officially close early next week as final documentation is being worked on.

However, the company did have to modify its amendment with the new terms calling for the U.S. term loan to be priced at Libor plus 200 basis points instead of the initial price of Libor plus 175 basis points that was being discussed, according to a market source. Prior to the repricing amendment, the tranche was priced at Libor plus 225 basis points.

Pricing on the euro term loan is going down to Libor plus 200 basis points from Libor plus 225 basis points, as was originally proposed, the source added.

Consents on the repricing amendment were due Thursday.

Rabobank is the lead bank on the deal.

Agco, a Duluth, Ga., manufacturer and distributor of agricultural equipment and related replacement parts, opted to come to market with this amendment because of improved financial performance and market conditions.

Journal Register closes

Journal Register Co. completed its acquisition of 21st Century Newspapers Inc. from affiliates of Kelso & Co., Goldman Sachs Capital Partners and Frank Shepherd, chairman and chief executive officer of 21st Century Newspapers, for $415 million, according to a company news release.

To finance the transaction (and refinance existing debt), the company got a new $1.05 billion senior credit facility (Ba2/BB+) consisting of a $350 million eight-year term loan B with an interest rate of Libor plus 150 basis points and a step down to Libor plus 125 basis points if leverage falls below 41/2x, a $425 million 71/4-year revolver with an interest rate of Libor plus 125 basis points and a $275 million 71/4-year term loan A with an interest rate of Libor plus 125 basis points.

Pricing on the term loan B was originally Libor plus 175 basis points but was reverse flexed this week and the step down added on strong demand.

JPMorgan is the lead bank on the Trenton, N.J., newspaper publishing company's deal.

AES closes

The AES Corp. closed on the amendment to its $650 million credit facility that reduced the $450 million revolver borrowing rate to Libor plus 250 basis points from Libor plus 400 basis points and reduced the $200 million term loan interest rate to Libor plus 225 basis points from Libor plus 400 basis points, according to a company news release.

Furthermore, the term loan maturity date was extended to 2011 from 2007.

The Arlington, Va., power company's revolver still expires in 2007.

"The financial markets continue to recognize AES's improving credit quality. These amendments reflect the benefits of our deleveraging strategy and of improved financial performance," said Barry Sharp, executive vice president and chief financial officer, in the release.

The amendment launched to lenders at the end of July via Citigroup and a 100% vote was needed for the company's proposal to be successful.

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