Kerneos upsizes to €350 million, sets talk in two-part secured notes offering; pricing Thursday

By Paul A. Harris

Portland, Ore., Feb. 27 - France-based Kerneos Tech Group SAS upsized its two-part offering of seven-year senior secured notes (B2/B+) to €350 million from €335 million and set price talk, a market source said on Thursday.

A €200 million tranche of fixed-rate notes, callable after three years at par plus 50% of the coupon, is talked at 5¾% to 6%, well inside initial guidance of 6½%.

A €150 million tranche of floating-rate notes, which will become callable after one year at 101, is talked to price at par with a 475 basis points to 500 bps spread to Euribor, well wide of the 400 bps whisper heard earlier in the week.

Books are closed. Terms are expected Thursday.

Goldman Sachs International is the bookrunner for the Rule 144A and Regulation S deal. Mizuho Securities is the co-manager.

Proceeds will be used to finance the acquisition of Kerneos by Astorg Partners. The additional €15 million of proceeds, resulting from the upsizing of the deal, will be used to reduce Astorg's equity contribution to €195.5 million from €210.5 million.

Kerneos is a Paris-based manufacturer and supplier of calcium aluminate cements.

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