NewPage, Alltel, TXU, Georgia-Pacific firm; LCDX up; Consolidated Communications resets launch

By Sara Rosenberg

New York, Dec. 10 - NewPage Corp., Alltel Communications Inc., Texas Competitive Electric Holdings Co. LLC (TXU) and Georgia-Pacific Corp. all saw their term loan levels climb on Monday in a secondary market that was overall better.

LCDX also gained some ground during the session as it followed the stock market's performance.

Moving to the primary, Consolidated Communications Holdings Inc. reset the launch for its proposed credit facility that had previously been postponed from a mid-November timeframe.

NewPage, Alltel, Texas Competitive and Georgia-Pacific were all higher in trading as the cash market was up by about an eighth to a quarter of a point across the board, according to traders.

NewPage, a Miamisburg, Ohio, producer of coated papers, saw its term loan go out at 98¾ bid, 99 offered, one trader said, and at 98½ bid, 99 offered, a second trader said, compared with Friday's closing levels of 98 3/8 bid, 98 5/8 offered.

The NewPage $1.6 billion term loan just freed up for trading late in the day on Friday. It is priced at Libor plus 375 basis points and was sold at an original issue discount of 97.

Also moving up on Monday was Alltel, a Little Rock, Ark., provider of wireless voice and data communications services, as its term loan B-3 ended the day at 96¼ bid, 96¾ offered, compared with 96 bid, 96½ offered for the previous session, traders continued.

In addition, Texas Competitive, a Dallas-based energy company, saw its term loan B-2 close the day at 98 3/8 bid, 99 offered, up from 98¼ bid, 98 5/8 offered, and its term loan B-3 closed at 98½ bid, 99 offered, up on the bid side from 98 3/8 bid, 99 offered, traders remarked.

Georgia-Pacific, an Atlanta-based manufacturer and marketer of tissue, packaging, paper, building products and related chemicals, saw its term loan B end the day at 94 7/8 bid, 95 5/8 offered, up from 94¾ bid, 95¼ offered, traders added.

LCDX stronger with stocks

As for LCDX 9, that followed equities higher although volume was pretty light, according to traders.

The index went out around 97.30 bid, 97.50 offered, up from 97.00 bid, 97.10 offered on Friday, traders said.

Stocks closed better on the day, with Nasdaq up 12.79 points, or 0.47%, Dow Jones Industrial Average up 101.45 points, or 0.74%, S&P 500 up 11.30 points, or 0.75%, and NYSE up 80.84 points, or 0.81%.

Consolidated Communications timing emerges

Switching to primary happenings, Consolidated Communications has rescheduled the launch of its proposed $950 million senior secured credit facility (B1/BB-), as a conference call is now set to take place on Tuesday afternoon, according to a market source.

The deal was previously expected to launch on Nov. 14 but was postponed.

The facility consists of a $760 million seven-year funded term loan, a $140 million seven-year final maturity delayed-draw until May 1, 2008 term loan and a $50 million six-year revolver.

According to previous filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the revolver and the two term loans are expected to have pricing of Libor plus 200 bps, with the revolver carrying a 50 bps unused fee and the delayed-draw term loan carrying a 100 bps unused fee.

Financial covenants include a maximum total net leverage ratio of 5.50 to 1.00 - provided that on the fiscal quarter end occurring immediately after the first anniversary of the closing date, the ratio will step down to 5.25 to 1.00 - and a minimum interest coverage ratio of 2.25 to 1.00.

Wachovia is the lead arranger and bookrunner on the deal, which will be used to help fund the acquisition of North Pittsburgh Systems, Inc. for $375.1 million, to provide ongoing working capital and for other general corporate purposes.

The delayed-draw term loan will be used for the repurchase or redemption in full of the company's existing 9¾% senior notes due 2012.

Pro forma leverage will be 4.4 times net debt to last-12-months adjusted EBITDA.

The acquisition is expected to close on Dec. 31.

Consolidated Communications is a Mattoon, Ill.-based rural local exchange company. North Pittsburgh is a Gibsonia, Pa., provider of telecommunication services.

Compass Group closes

Compass Group Diversified Holdings LLC closed on its new $150 million term loan due Dec. 7, 2013 (B1/BB-) and $25 million revolver add-on due Dec. 7, 2012, according to a company news release.

During syndication, the size of the term loan was reduced from $200 million.

Madison Capital Funding LLC acted as the agent on the deal.

Over the next two years, the term loan has a $150 million accordion feature and the revolver has a $25 million accordion feature.

Proceeds from the term loan were used to repay $44 million of revolver borrowings, to pay approximately $5 million of related transaction fees and expenses and to increase the company's cash balance by approximately $101 million.

The company plans to use the cash, as well as the revolver, to pursue acquisitions of additional businesses, including add-on acquisitions for existing subsidiaries, to provide for future working capital requirements and for other general corporate purposes.

Compass Group is a Westport, Conn., acquirer and manager of small- to middle-market businesses.

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