LifeMiles term loan B rises with earnings; Sabre holds at post-downgrade lower levels

By Sara Rosenberg

New York, May 12 – LifeMiles Ltd.’s first-lien term loan B headed higher in the secondary market on Friday as the company released earnings results to lenders that were viewed positively.

Also, Sabre GLBL Inc.’s term loan B held steady after falling about a point in the prior session due to a ratings downgrade by Moody’s Investors Service.

Meanwhile, in the primary market, Golden Entertainment Inc. joined the near-term calendar with plans for a new term loan B that will help refinance its existing term loan.

LifeMiles gains

LifeMiles’ first-lien term loan B moved up to 95¾ bid, 97¾ offered on Friday from 94 bid, 95½ offered on Thursday in reaction to the release to lenders of good quarterly earnings numbers, according to a trader.

The financials showed a roughly 20% increase in revenues in the quarter when compared to the same period last year, and year-over-year EBITDA numbers were good as well, the trader added.

LifeMiles is a Latin American coalition loyalty program and operator of Avianca’s frequent flyer program.

Sabre steady

Sabre GLBL’s term loan was quoted at 78 bid, 79 offered on Friday, in line with where it moved Thursday after Moody’s downgraded the company’s ratings, but down from 79 bid, 80 offered prior to the downgrade on Thursday, a trader remarked.

Moody’s trimmed the Sabre Holdings Corp.’s corporate family ratings, Sabre GLBL’s senior secured credit facilities and Sabre GLBL’s senior secured notes to B2 from Ba3. The outlook is stable.

The downgrade reflects materially weaker performance than previously expected and Moody’s expectation for a slow recovery in profitability which will cause Sabre’s credit metrics to remain very weak for an extended period relative to 2019, the rating release said.

According to Moody’s, the company’s leverage is projected to be 7.6x at the end of 2024, and EBITDA and free cash flows are negative on an LTM basis. Moody’s expects negative free cash flows in 2023, which will erode the company’s cash balance, and alternate liquidity is limited given the largely secured capital structure.

Sabre is a Southlake, Tex.-based software and technology company for the travel industry.

Golden Entertainment on deck

Moving to the primary market, Golden Entertainment set a lender call for noon ET on Monday to launch a $400 million seven-year term loan B that is talked with 10 basis points CSA and 101 soft call protection for six months, according to a market source.

JPMorgan Chase Bank, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Citizens, Fifth Third, Capital One, Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc. and Wells Fargo Securities LLC are leading the deal, which will be used to help repay a roughly $575 million term loan due 2024.

Additionally, the refinancing will be funded with proceeds from the sale of the company’s Rocky Gap Casino Resort. Century Casinos Inc. will acquire the operations of Rocky Gap for $56.1 million, subject to customary working capital adjustments, and VICI Properties Inc. will acquire an interest in the land and buildings associated with Rocky Gap for $203.9 million.

Closing on the sale is expected mid-year, subject to regulatory approvals and customary conditions.

Golden Entertainment is a Las Vegas-based owner and operator of a diversified entertainment platform.

Loan indices slide

In other news, IHS Markit’s iBoxx loan indices were lower on Thursday, with the Leveraged Loan indexes (MiLLi) closing out the day down 0.04% and the Liquid Leveraged Loan indices (LLLi) closing out the day down 0.06%.

Month to date, the MiLLi is down 0.15% and year to date it is up 3.9%, and the LLLi is down 0.39% month to date and up 4.05% year to date.

Average secondary market bids in the U.S. on Thursday were 91.16, down 0.11% from the previous day and down 0.78% year to date.

According to the IHS Markit data, some of the top advancers on Thursday were Akorn’s October 2020 exit term loan at 28.08, up from 27.25, Dawn Acquisition’s (AT&T Colocation) December 2018 covenant-lite term loan at 50.56, up from 49.36, and Syncsort/Precisely/Vision Solutions’ April 2021 second-lien term loan at 79.88, up from 78.88.

Some top decliners on Thursday were Win Waste/Waste Innovations’ March 2021 covenant-lite term loan B at 89.17, down from 93.04, Exactech’s February 2018 covenant-lite term loan B at 53.33, down from 55, and Petmate/Doskocil’s October 2021 incremental covenant-lite term loan B at 61.08, down from 62.86.

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