Market awaits influx of new deals launching immediately following Thanksgiving holiday

By Sara Rosenberg

New York, Nov. 22 - Investors are looking forward to the week of Nov. 27 as the primary calendar is jam-packed with new deals that are scheduled to hit the market, including Best Brands Corp., TPF Generation Holdings LLC, Chattem Inc., Herbst Gaming Inc., Dynea North America, Metrologic Instruments Inc., Aleris International Inc., Harrington Holdings Inc., Munder Capital Management, Riverdeep Interactive Learning Ltd., Samsonite Corp. and Columbia Entertainment.

Best Brands will be the first name to get the primary going as it is scheduled to launch a $275 million credit facility with a bank meeting on Monday.

The facility consists of a $30 million revolver talked at Libor plus 275 basis points, a $170 million first-lien term loan talked at Libor plus 275 bps and a $75 million second-lien term loan talked at Libor plus 650 bps, according to a market source.

General Electric Capital Corp. is the lead bank on the deal that will be used to fund the acquisition of Telco Food Brands.

Best Brands is an Eagan, Minn., maker of baking products and provider of baking equipment.

TPF Generation set for Tuesday

Moving on to the Tuesday calendar, TPF Generation is so far the biggest deal set for that day as it is launching a $1.645 billion credit facility in a New York bank meeting that has a 10 a.m. ET start time.

The facility consists of a $50 million first-lien synthetic revolver due 2011, a $250 million synthetic letter-of-credit facility due 2013, an $850 million first-lien term loan B due 2013 and a $495 million second-lien term loan due 2014, a market source told Prospect News.

Credit Suisse is the left lead bank on the deal that will be used to fund Tenaska Power Fund, LP's acquisition of six natural gas-fired generation assets from Constellation Energy.

Tenaska is buying 3,145 megawatts of gas-fired generation from Constellation for $1.635 billion in cash, subject to closing adjustments.

Chattem also Tuesday business

Chattem is another transaction that will be launched with a bank meeting at 10 a.m. ET on Tuesday, with this one carrying a total deal size of $400 million.

The facility consists of a $100 million four-year revolver and a $300 million six-year term loan B, with both tranches talked at Libor plus 200 bps, sources said.

Bank of America is the lead bank on the deal that will be used to help fund the acquisition of the U.S. rights to five consumer and over-the-counter brands from Johnson & Johnson for $410 million in cash.

Chattem is a Chattanooga, Tenn., marketer and manufacturer of a broad portfolio of branded over-the-counter health care products, toiletries and dietary supplements.

Herbst launch Wednesday

Continuing on into the week, Herbst Gaming has set its bank meeting for Nov. 29 in New York to launch a proposed $875 million senior secured credit facility.

The facility consists of a $175 million five-year revolver, a $375 million seven-year term loan B and a $325 million one-year, with seven-year final maturity, delayed-draw term loan, a market source said, adding that price talk should emerge at the launch.

Lehman Brothers and Wachovia are the lead banks on the deal that will be used to help fund the acquisition of some MGM Mirage assets and The Sands Regent in Reno, Nev., refinance existing bank debt and be used for working capital and general corporate needs.

Herbst is a Las Vegas-based slot route operator.

Dynea Wednesday too

Dynea North America is set for Nov. 29 in New York as well to launch its proposed $270 million credit facility via bookrunner UBS.

The facility consists of a $20 million five-year revolver and a $250 million seven-year term loan (divided into a $227 million U.S. piece and a $23 million Canadian piece), with both tranches talked at Libor plus 225 bps, a market source said.

Proceeds from the credit facility, along with $132 million of equity, will be used to help fund Teachers' Private Capital's acquisition of Dynea North America from Dynea Chemicals Oy of Finland.

Dynea North America is a Mississauga, Ont., manufacturer of adhesive resins and overlay products used in high-performance adhesion and surfacing applications.

Metrologic follows suit

Metrologic also chose Nov. 29 as the day to bring its proposed $235 million senior secured credit facility to market.

The facility consists of a $35 million five-year revolver with a 50 bps unused fee, a $125 million seven-year first-lien term loan B and a $75 million eight-year second-lien term loan.

Pricing on the revolver and the first-lien term loan B is expected at Libor plus 300 bps if the deal is rated B2/B or higher and Libor plus 350 bps if the deal is rated lower than B2/B. Pricing on the second-lien loan is expected at Libor plus 700 bps, according to various filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Morgan Stanley is the lead bank on the deal that will be used to help fund the leveraged buyout of Metrologic by an investor group led by Francisco Partners, C. Harry Knowles, founder and chief executive officer of Metrologic, and Elliott Associates, LP for $18.50 in cash for each share of Metrologic common stock.

Metrologic is a Blackwood, N.J., supplier of choice for data capture and collection hardware, optical products and image processing software.

Aleris launch Thursday

So far, the biggest deal scheduled to launch on Nov. 30 is Aleris' $1.85 billion senior secured credit facility via lead bank Deutsche Bank.

The facility consists of a $750 million asset-based revolver and a $1.1 billion term loan B, according to a market source.

Proceeds will be used to help fund Texas Pacific Group's leveraged buyout of Aleris for $1.7 billion plus the assumption or repayment of $1.6 billion of debt.

Aleris is a Beachwood, Ohio, manufacturer of aluminum rolled products and extrusions, aluminum recycling and specification alloy production.

Harrington also Thursday

Harrington's proposed $270 million credit facility is another deal set to launch on Nov. 30.

UBS and National City are joint lead arrangers on the deal, with UBS acting as bookrunner. UBS is also administrative agent and National City is syndication agent.

The facility consists of a $45 million six-year revolver talked at Libor plus 250 basis points, a $165 million seven-year first-lien term loan talked at Libor plus 250 bps and a $60 million 71/2-year second-lien term loan talked at Libor plus 600 bps, according to a market source.

The second-lien loan contains call premiums of 102 in year one and 101 in year two, the source added.

Proceeds from the credit facility, along with $205 million of equity, will be used to help fund the acquisition of Harrington by The Jordan Co.

Harrington is a Twinsburg, Ohio, multi-channel marketer and distributor of health care products to managed care beneficiary, home care supply, alternate site health care providers and professional customers.

Munder, Riverdeep for Thursday

Two other deals launching on Nov. 30 are Munder Capital Management and Riverdeep Interactive Learning, although details on the two facilities have yet to surface.

Credit Suisse is leading both transactions.

Munder is a Birmingham, Mich., provider of investment advice and asset management services, and Riverdeep is a Dublin, Ireland, provider of CD-ROM and internet-based educational products for the K-12 market.

Samsonite targets Nov. 29 week

Samsonite is targeting either Nov. 29 or Nov. 30 to launch its proposed $530 million senior secured credit facility consisting of a $450 million seven-year term loan and an $80 million six-year revolver, according to a market source.

Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank are the lead banks on the deal that will be used to help fund tender offers for the company's $164.97 million 8 7/8% senior subordinated notes due 2011 and €100 million floating-rate senior notes due 2010, and a $175 million special dividend to stockholders.

Samsonite is a Denver-based designer, manufacturer and distributor of luggage and travel-related consumer products.

Columbia rounds out the week

Last, but not least, is Columbia Entertainment, which is eyeing Dec. 1 as the launch date for its proposed $2.175 billion in credit facilities.

Credit Suisse is the lead bank on the deal.

According to various filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the bank debt will include a $1.735 billion five-year senior secured credit facility, consisting of a $1.555 billion term loan and a $180 million revolver that will be borrowed by a newly formed indirect subsidiary of Columbia, referred to as Tropicana Entertainment.

Proceeds from the $1.735 billion credit facility, along with $975 million of high-yield bonds, will be used to fund the acquisition of Aztar Corp. for $54.00 per share in cash.

There will also be a $440 million 18-month senior secured loan borrowed by a newly formed indirect subsidiary of Columbia, referred to as LV Tropicana, which will indirectly hold Aztar's 34-acre parcel situated on the Las Vegas "Strip." This loan will have two six-month extension options. It is expected that the loan will be refinanced with permanent financing for the redevelopment of the property.

Columbia is a Fort Mitchell, Ky., owner, developer and operator of hotel properties and casinos. Aztar is a Phoenix-based gaming company.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.