Propex cuts pricing again; Cosmetic Essence revised; NRG catches large audience; Thomson breaks

By Sara Rosenberg

New York, Nov. 30 - Propex Fabrics Inc. reduced pricing by another 25 basis points across the board on its facility just one day after a 25 basis point reverse flex as the syndicate is trying to trim the amount of investors in the deal. Cosmetic Essence Inc. reverse flexed its credit facility and shifted some funds from the second-lien term loan to the first-lien term loan. And, NRG Energy Inc.'s bank meeting saw massive attendance with more than 160 people participating.

Meanwhile, in the secondary, Thomson Media's $235 million credit facility broke for trading, with the first-lien term loan quoted in the 101 context.

Propex Fabrics reverse flexed its $175 million credit facility (B3/B+) a second time, this time cutting pricing on both the $65 million five-year revolver and the $110 million seven-year term loan B to Libor plus 225 basis points from Libor plus 250 basis points, according to a fund manager.

On Monday, the entire deal was reverse flexed to Libor plus 250 basis points from Libor plus 275 basis points.

"They thought bringing it to 250 would get people to drop but not too many did so they thought if they brought it down to 225 they may get a few more people to drop," the fund manager explained. Previously it was heard that the deal was somewhere around six times oversubscribed.

BNP Paribas is the sole lead bank on the deal.

Allocations are expected to go out within the next couple of days.

Proceeds from the facility, along with proceeds from $150 million 10% senior notes, will be used to finance the acquisition of the Atlanta-based polypropylene fabrics business of BP Amoco, which is being renamed Propex Fabrics, by a group of financial sponsors led by the Sterling Group.

Cosmetic Essence reworks deal

Cosmetic Essence changed its $151 million credit facility around, moving $7.5 million of funds from the second-lien term loan into the first-lien term loan and cutting pricing by 50 basis points on all three of the facility's tranches.

The six-year first-lien term loan is now sized at $97.5 million compared to $90 million and is priced with an interest rate of Libor plus 275 basis points compared to Libor plus 325 basis points, according to a market source.

The seven-year second-lien term loan is now sized at $28.5 million compared to $36 million and is priced with an interest rate of Libor plus 650 basis points compared to Libor plus 700 basis points, the source said.

Lastly, the $25 million six-year revolver - size left unchanged - is priced with an interest rate of Libor plus 275 basis points compared to Libor plus 325 basis points, the source added.

Like Propex, allocations are hoped to come out later this week.

BNP Paribas is the lead bank on the deal that will be used to fund Onex Partners LP's acquisition of Cosmetic Essence from Brockway Moran & Partners Inc. in a transaction valued at about $300 million.

Cosmetic Essence is a Holmdel, N.J., contract manufacturer for the personal care products industry.

NRG attracts huge audience

NRG's bank meeting to launch its proposed $950 million credit facility into syndication was "overwhelmingly attended [with] over 80 in attendance in person and over 80 on the phone," according to a market source.

And, taking into account this obvious display of interest, along with the fact that term loan B commitments were already coming in right after the bank meeting finished, some may even venture to guess that this deal could go the way of a blowout.

The $800 million term loan B is talked at Libor plus 250 basis points and is being offered at par, while the $150 million revolver is talked at Libor plus 275 basis points with a 1% fee on allocation.

Credit Suisse First Boston and Goldman Sachs are the lead banks on the refinancing deal, with CSFB the left lead.

NRG is a Minneapolis wholesale power generation company.

Thomson opens for trading

Thomson Media hit the secondary on Tuesday, with the $170 million term loan B (B1) quoted at 101 bid, 101½ offered, according to a trader. The tranche, which was upsized from $160 million around mid-November, is priced with an interest rate of Libor plus 225 basis points. At launch, price talk on the term loan was Libor plus 275 basis points.

Thomson's facility also contains a $30 million second-lien term loan C (B2), downsized from $40 million during syndication, with an interest rate of Libor plus 550 basis points, cut from Libor plus 600 basis points during syndication. This term loan contains call protection of 101 in year one.

There's also a $35 million revolver (B1) with an interest rate of Libor plus 275 basis points.

Citigroup and Barclays are the lead banks on the deal, with Citigroup the left lead.

Proceeds from the loan will be used to help fund Investcorp's acquisition of Thomson Media from The Thomson Corp. for $350 million in cash.

Thomson Media is a New York-based provider of largely print-based information products focused on the banking, financial services and related technology markets.

Wynn restructures?

Talk is that Wynn Las Vegas LLC/Wynn Resorts Ltd. restructured its credit facility (B2/B+), reducing the overall size to $1 billion consisting of a $600 million revolver with an interest rate of Libor plus 225 basis points and a $400 million term loan B with an interest rate of Libor plus 212.5 basis points, according to a market source, although whether this structure is 100% finalized was not confirmed prior to press time.

The deal was launched as a $1.1 billion credit facility consisting of a $1 billion revolver talked at Libor plus 250 basis points and a $100 million term loan talked at Libor plus 250 basis points.

And, before launching, the deal was expected to come as a $1.65 billion credit facility consisting of a $1 billion five-year revolver talked at Libor plus 250 basis points and a $650 million term loan B talked at Libor plus 300 basis points.

Proceeds, along with proceeds from a first mortgage notes offering, will be used to refinance outstanding debt and fund construction of the La Reve property.

Prior to the bank loan launch it was rumored the first mortgage notes deal would be sized at $800 million, then the size materialized at $1.1 billion and finally the mortgage notes deal was upsized at pricing to $1.3 billion.

Deutsche Bank, Bank of America, Bear Stearns & Co., JP Morgan and Societe Generale are the lead banks on the credit facility.

Wynn is a Las Vegas-based gaming, lodging and entertainment company.

Roper ups revolver

Roper Industries Inc. increased the size of its in-market five-year revolver to $400 million from $300 million, according to a syndicate document. Pricing was left unchanged at Libor plus 125 basis points, and there is an unused commitment fee of 37.5 basis points.

The now $1.055 billion senior secured credit facility (Ba2/BB+) also contains a $655 million five-year term loan A with an interest rate of Libor plus 125 basis points. No changes were made to this tranche.

The term loan A contains a euro term loan sub-facility for the euro equivalent of $50 million to be made available to one of Roper's foreign subsidiaries.

JPMorgan Chase Bank and Wachovia are the lead banks on the deal, with JPMorgan left lead.

Proceeds will be used by the Duluth, Ga., industrial company to refinance its existing $380 million term loan and help fund the acquisition of TransCore Holdings Inc. for about $600 million.

Roper also plans on offering 4.1 million shares of its common stock, plus an additional 600,000 shares to cover over-allotments, to help fund the TransCore acquisition as well.

Rockwood repricing may change

Rumor has it that Rockwood Specialties Group Inc. may change its U.S. term loan B repricing proposal to a 25 basis point reduction in spread as opposed to a 50 basis point reduction, according to a market source.

It is said that the deal may get done at Libor plus 225 basis points with 101 soft call protection in year one against refinancings/repricings. However, no official change to the spread request has been made as of yet.

The original proposal was for pricing to be lowered to Libor plus 200 basis points. And, then soft call protection was added shortly after the Nov. 17 lender meeting.

Current pricing on the term loan B is Libor plus 250 basis points.

Goldman Sachs and UBS are the lead banks on the repricing, with Goldman the left lead.

Rockwood is a Princeton, N.J., specialty chemicals and advanced materials company.

Colfax closes

Colfax Corp. closed on its $165 million credit facility (Ba3/BB-) on Tuesday consisting of a $50 million revolver with an interest rate of Libor plus 250 basis points and a $115 million term loan B with an interest rate of Libor plus 225 basis points, according to a market source. The term loan B had originally been talked at Libor plus 225 to 250 basis points.

Merrill Lynch was the lead bank on the deal.

Proceeds are being used to help fund a recapitalization of the Richmond, Va.-based industrial pump manufacturing company.

Affinia closes

Dana Corp. completed the sale of its automotive aftermarket businesses - renamed Affinia Group Inc. - to an affiliate of The Cypress Group for about $1 billion, including roughly $950 million in cash and a seller's note with a face value of $74.5 million, according to a company news release.

To help fund the transaction, Affinia obtained a $450 million credit facility (B2/BB-) consisting of a $325 million seven-year term loan B, which was downsized from $400 million during syndication, with an interest rate of Libor plus 250 basis points, after reverse flexing from Libor plus 300 basis points during syndication; and a $125 million six-year revolver with an interest rate of Libor plus 300 basis points.

The B loan was downsized because the company chose to get a new $125 million accounts receivable securitization facility of which $100 million will be drawn. The accounts receivable facility was contemplated from the very start and was even presented to lenders at the bank meeting.

JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse First Boston and Deutsche Bank are joint lead arrangers on the deal, with JPMorgan the left lead. UBS is acting as a documentation agent.

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