Tecumseh, American Media set talk; Ineos gets good reception; Hallmark breaks; Lear trades up

By Sara Rosenberg

New York, Jan. 11 - Price talk on Tecumseh Products Co. surfaced Wednesday at the company's bank meeting that launched the deal into syndication. And, American Media Inc. came out with price talk on its credit facility now that the deal has already been presented to potential lenders.

Also in the primary, Ineos Group Ltd.'s credit facility met with positive investor sentiment as the euro portion of the deal is already oversubscribed and the U.S. portion is well on its way to filling up fast.

In secondary happenings, Hallmark Entertainment's credit facility allocated and freed for trading, with the term loan B quoted in the high-par to low-101 context. Furthermore, Lear Corp.'s term loan traded up as higher-than-expected charges drove some investors out of the company's bond debt and into the loan.

Tecumseh came out with price talk on its $375 million credit facility and announced call protection premiums for the second-lien term loan piece as the deal was launched into syndication.

The $275 million revolver was launched with opening price talk of Libor plus 200 basis points, the source said.

And, the $100 million second-lien term loan was launched with opening price talk of Libor plus 750 basis points, the source added.

The second-lien term loan contains call protection of 102 in year one and 101 in year two.

Citigroup and JPMorgan are joint leads on the revolver, and Citi is the lead on the second-lien term loan.

Tecumseh Products is a Tecumseh, Mich., manufacturer of hermetic compressors for air conditioning and refrigeration products, gasoline engines and power train components for lawn and garden applications, submersible pumps and small electric motors.

American Media price talk

American Media released price talk of Libor plus 325 basis points on both tranches contained in its $510 million credit facility now that the deal was launched into syndication via a bank meeting that took place on Tuesday, according to a market source.

Tranching on the facility is comprised of a $60 million revolver due 2012 and a $450 million term loan due 2013.

J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. are the lead arrangers on the deal, with Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and General Electric Capital Corp. acting as co-agents.

Proceeds will be used to refinance the company's existing senior secured bank debt.

Closing is expected in late-January.

American Media is a Boca Raton, Fla., magazine publisher.

Hallmark frees to trade

Hallmark Entertainment allocated its credit facility on Wednesday, with the $215 million six-year term loan B closing the session quoted at par ¾ bid, 101¼ offered but seen bid at various points during the day a bit higher at 101, according to a trader.

As for the $65 million 61/2-year second-lien term loan, one source heard that the paper was bid at 1011/2; however, according to the trader, the tranche is so small that no trades actually took place after the break.

The first-lien term loan B is priced with an interest rate of Libor plus 250 basis points, and the second-lien term loan is priced with an interest rate of Libor plus 650 basis points.

During syndication, the second-lien term loan was upsized by $15 million from $50 million and pricing was flexed up by 50 basis points from original price talk at launch of Libor plus 600 basis points.

Hallmark's $445 million credit facility also contains a $75 million five-year term loan A with an interest rate of Libor plus 225 basis points and a $90 million five-year revolver with an interest rate of Libor plus 225 basis points.

During syndication, the revolver was upsized by $15 million from $75 million.

JPMorgan is the lead bank on the deal that will be used for LBO financing.

Hallmark Entertainment is a diversified entertainment company.

Ineos sees good momentum

Syndication on Ineos' €6.645 billion senior secured credit facility (Ba3/B+) is going extremely well as the euro portion of the deal is oversubscribed and the U.S portion of the deal, which just launched with a bank meeting on Tuesday, is coming in nicely as well, according to a market source.

The facility consists of a €1.57 billion term loan A talked at Libor plus 225 basis points, a €1.6 billion term loan B talked at Libor plus 275 basis points, a €1.6 billion term loan C talked at Libor plus 325 basis points, a €1.175 billion securitization facility and a €700 million revolver talked at Libor plus 225 basis points.

The term loan B and the term loan C are expected to have about $732 million each in U.S. currency carved out of the tranches for U.S. investors, the source said.

Tickets are being sold pro rata for the term loan B and the term loan C.

Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and Barclays are the lead banks on the deal.

Proceeds from the credit facility, which was already funded by the underwriters but will now be syndicated, were used for the $9 billion acquisition of Innovene from BP plc that was completed on Dec. 16.

Ineos is a U.K.-based manufacturer of specialty petrochemicals. Innovene is an olefins, derivatives and refining group.

Lear stronger on better buyers

Lear's term loan traded up by about half a point during market hours Wednesday after the company revealed that charges would be higher than was previously expected, causing some players to sell off their bond holdings and invest in the loan debt, according to a trader.

The term loan closed out the session quoted at 98½ bid, 99½ offered, the trader added.

On Wednesday morning, Lear revealed in an 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it expects to take an approximately $342 million goodwill impairment charge in the fourth quarter of 2005 on top of the already expected $670 million impairment charge in the third quarter of 2005.

The goodwill impairment charge, along with potential U.S. deferred tax asset valuation allowances in the fourth quarter of 2005, will have a negative impact on Lear's net income, assets and shareholders' equity as of and for the year and quarter ended Dec. 31, 2005, the company added in the filing.

Lear is a Southfield, Mich.-based designer and manufacturer of interior systems and components for automobiles and light trucks.

Amkor loan dips with bonds

Amkor Technology Inc.'s bank debt felt a touch weaker on Wednesday in sympathy with the bonds, which were also lower on the day, according to a trader.

The bank debt closed the session down about an eighth of a point at 103 1/8 bid, 103 5/8 offered, compared to previous levels of 103¼ bid, 104 offered, the trader said.

Amkor is a Chandler, Ariz.-based subcontractor of semiconductor packaging and test services.

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