Big West breaks; TXU, Huntsman up with numbers; Savers, Intergraph price talk emerges

By Sara Rosenberg

New York, Feb. 19 - Big West Oil LLC's credit facility allocated and freed up for trading during Friday's market hours, with the term loan jumping a couple of points higher than the price at which it was originally issued.

Also in trading, TXU Corp.'s term loan B debt was stronger after quarterly numbers were announced, and Huntsman Corp.'s term loans got a boost with its earnings release as well.

Over on the new deal front, Savers Inc. and Intergraph Corp. came out with price talk on their new bank deals as both transactions were launched to investors during the session, and chatter is that Pierre Foods Inc.'s credit facility is going well largely because of the existing lender group.

Big West frees to trade

Big West Oil's $360 million five-year term loan hit the secondary market, with levels quoted well above the tranche's original issue discount price, according to a trader.

The term loan was seen at 99¾ bid, par ¾ offered on the break and then it moved up to par ½ bid, 101½ offered, the trader said.

Pricing on the term loan is Libor plus 950 basis points with a 2.5% Libor floor, and it was sold at an original issue discount of 97. The loan also includes 101soft call protection for one year.

During syndication, the Libor floor was reduced from 3%, the discount tightened from initial talk of 96 and the call protection was added.

Big West funding exit

Proceeds from Big West Oil's term loan will be used to finance the company's emergence from Chapter 11.

Other exit financing will come from a $75 million three-year ABL revolver.

Bank of America is the lead bank on the deal.

Big West Oil, a wholly owned subsidiary of Flying J Inc., is a Salt Lake City-based complex high conversion refinery.

TXU rises on earnings

TXU's term loan debt gained some ground on Friday after its parent company, Energy Future Holdings Corp., released fourth-quarter results, according to a trader.

The term loan B-1 and term loan B-2 were quoted at 80 5/8 bid, 81 offered, up from 79 bid, 79¾ offered, and the term loan B-3 was quoted at 80 1/8 bid, 80 5/8 offered, up from 78¾ bid, 79½ offered, the trader said.

For the fourth quarter, the company reported consolidated net income of $137 million, compared to a reported net loss of $8.855 billion for the fourth quarter 2008.

Adjusted net loss for the quarter was $351 million compared, to a net loss of $367 million in the prior year.

And, operating revenues for the quarter were $2.18 billion, versus $2.364 billion in the comparable 2008 period.

TXU is a Dallas-based energy company.

Huntsman inches higher

Huntsman's term loans were also a little better during trading hours as the company came out with earnings that were better than expected, according to a trader.

The term loan B was quoted at 94 5/8 bid, 95 1/8 offered, up from 94¼ bid, 95 offered and the term loan C was quoted at 94 7/8 bid, 95 3/8 offered, up from 94½ bid, 95¼ offered, the trader said.

For the fourth quarter, Huntsman reported net income of $66 million, or $0.26 per diluted share, compared to net income of $598 million, or $2.53 per diluted share, for the 2008 fourth quarter and a net loss of $68 million, or $0.29 loss per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2009.

Adjusted net income for the quarter was $70 million, or $0.27 per diluted share, compared to an adjusted net loss of $91 million, or $0.38 loss per diluted share, for the same period in 2008 and an adjusted net loss of $55 million, or $0.24 loss per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2009.

And, revenues for the quarter were $2.096 billion, an increase of 2% from $2.048 million for the same period in 2008 and a decrease of 1% compared to $2.108 million for the third quarter of 2009.

Huntsman adjusted EBITDA improves

Huntsman also revealed on Friday that its adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $165 million, compared to $51 million for the same period in 2008 and $200 million for the third quarter of 2009.

"Results from our most recent fourth quarter are very encouraging; we have seen our business results improve from last year when we reported $51 million of adjusted EBITDA to this year when we reported $165 million. During 2009, we eliminated more than $150 million of costs from our business and reduced working capital needs by nearly $500 million," said Peter R. Huntsman, president and chief executive officer, in a news release.

"We look forward to improving market conditions in 2010. We have a number of innovative products in our pipeline that address energy concerns that will provide long term benefits. I expect our operational discipline, improving global market conditions and stronger capacity utilization to further enhance our earnings potential," Huntsman added.

Huntsman trying to amend

Huntsman went on to say that it is seeking an amendment to its revolving credit facility that would reduce the size and extend the maturity.

Specifically, the available borrowing limit under the revolver would be lowered to up to $300 million, while the maturity would be pushed out to February 2014.

The company's total cash and unused borrowing capacity as of Dec. 31 was about $2.5 billion, compared to $1.291 billion at Dec. 31, 2008.

Huntsman is a Salt Lake City, Utah-based manufacturer and marketer of differentiated chemicals.

Bucyrus old loan strengthens

In more trading happenings, Bucyrus International Inc.'s old term loan was a touch better with the company's release of unaudited financial results for the quarter ended Dec. 31, while the new term loan was flat, according to traders.

The old term loan was quoted at 99 5/8 bid, par 1/8 offered, up from 99½ bid, par offered, and the new term loan, which just broke for trading on Feb. 12, was quoted at par 3/8 bid, par 7/8 offered, unchanged on the day, traders said.

For the quarter, Bucyrus' net earnings were $81.5 million, or $1.07 per diluted share, compared to $65.8 million, or $0.88 per diluted share, in the prior year.

Sales for the quarter were $646 million, compared to $722 million in the 2008 quarter.

In addition, adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $137 million, compared to $128 million in the previous year.

Bucyrus is a Milwaukee, Wis., designer and manufacturer of high-productivity mining equipment for surface and underground mining.

Savers sets talk

Moving to the primary market, Savers held a meeting on Friday to kick off syndication on its senior secured credit facility, and in connection with the launch, price talk surfaced, according to a market source.

The $325 million term loan was presented to lenders with talk of Libor plus 375 bps with a 2% Libor floor, the source said.

And, original issue discount on the term loan is being guided at 99, the source continued.

Prior to the launch, unofficial talk on the original issue discount was in the 98½ to 99 area, but it ended up going out at the tight end of that talk, the source added.

JPMorgan is the lead bank on the $365 million senior secured credit facility (Ba3/B+), which also includes a $40 million revolver.

The Bellevue, Wash.-based thrift store chain will use proceeds from the facility to refinance existing bank and mezzanine debt.

Intergraph price talk

Another deal to launch and release price talk on Friday was Intergraph's $300 million incremental term loan (B1/BB-), according to a market source.

The term loan is being talked at Libor plus 400 bps with a 2% Libor floor, an original issue discount of 99 and 101 soft call protection for one year, the source said.

JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs are the lead banks on the deal that will be used to fund a dividend.

In conjunction with the new deal, the company is seeking an amendment to its existing credit facility.

Intergraph is a Huntsville, Ala.-based provider of spatial information management software and systems.

Pierre Foods expecting rollover

Market talk is that Pierre Foods' recently launched $260 million term loan (B2) is going well as most existing guys are anticipated to roll over their commitments, according to a buyside source.

The source explained that about $150 million or so of the new term loan will refinance existing term loan debt, leaving only about $100 million for new guys, assuming existing lenders don't increase their current commitment sizes.

"Not much left for new guys," the source remarked.

And, based on the rumors that the source is hearing on how syndication is coming along, he is expecting pricing on the term loan to wind up at Libor plus 500 bps, the low end of the Libor plus 500 bps to 525 bps talk.

The term loan talk also includes a 2% Libor floor and an original issue discount in the 99 area.

Pierre Foods lead bank

Pierre Foods' term loan, which just launched with a bank meeting on Thursday, is being led by Deutsche Bank.

In addition to refinancing an existing term loan, proceeds from the new term loan will be used to fund a dividend.

Prior to launch, the term loan size was described as $260 million to $265 million loan, but lenders were presented with a size of $260 million at the meeting.

Also, prior to launch, the guidance that was circulating around the market was somewhere in the Libor plus 500 bps area.

Pierre Foods is a Cincinnati, Ohio-based producer of fully cooked beef, pork, chicken, turkey, peanut butter and bakery products for school, foodservice, retail, vending and convenience store markets.

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