LSP Gen, Quintiles, Panavision, Aveta tweak deals; Dole sets talk; Cablevision, Angiotech break

By Sara Rosenberg

New York, March 23 - LSP Gen Finance Co. LLC made a slew of changes to its credit facility on Thursday, including shifting some funds, cutting pricing and removing the synthetic letter-of-credit facility from syndication. But LSP wasn't the only issuer to retranche and reprice its deal - Quintiles Transnational Corp. also decided to move funds between its second-lien and first-lien tranches and lower pricing as well. And, Panavision Inc. reduced pricing on all of its credit facility tranches while at the same time upsizing its first-lien term loan B.

Also in the primary, Aveta Inc. changed its repricing request and Dole Food Co. Inc. came out with price talk on its credit facility as the deal was launched to investors with a larger-than-expected asset-based revolver tranche.

Moving to the secondary, Cablevision Systems Corp. and Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc. both freed for trading, with Cablevision quoted right atop 101 and Angiotech's term loan quoted atop par.

LSP Gen reworked its credit facility, moving some funds out of the second-lien and into the first-lien term loan, lowering pricing by a pretty significant amount on all tranches and taking the synthetic letter-of-credit facility out of syndication, according to a market source.

With the changes, the seven-year first-lien term loan (Ba3/BB-) is now sized at $950 million, up from an original size of $850 million, and pricing was reverse flexed to Libor plus 175 basis points from original price talk at launch of Libor plus 250 basis points, the source said.

In addition, the call premium on the first-lien term loan was removed from the deal.

Meanwhile, the eight-year second-lien term loan (B2/B) is now sized at $150 million, down from an original size of $250 million, and pricing was reverse flexed to Libor plus 350 basis points from original price talk at launch of Libor plus 425 basis points, the source continued.

The 101 call premium on the second-lien term loan was left in place.

Furthermore, pricing on the $100 million five-year revolver (Ba3/BB-) and the $40 million delayed-draw seven-year final maturity first-lien term loan (Ba3/BB-) was also reverse flexed to Libor plus 175 basis points from original price talk at launch of Libor plus 250 basis points.

The delayed-draw term loan carries a ticking fee of 50 basis points. The tranche will be used no later than the end of the year.

As for the $430 million seven-year synthetic letter-of-credit facility (Ba3/BB-) that was talked at Libor plus 250 basis points, it was removed from the credit structure altogether and was replaced with a $450 million special letter-of-credit facility that will be provided by Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse. There are no pricing indications available on the new special letter-of-credit facility, the source said.

Lastly, the cash flow sweep contained in the credit agreement was increased to 95% from 90% until certain leverage tests are met. It then reduces to 75%, the source added.

Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs are the lead banks on the $1.69 billion credit facility (up from $1.67 billion) that will be used to help fund LS Power Equity Partners' acquisition of Duke Energy North America's entire fleet of power generation assets outside the Midwest.

Under the purchase agreement, LS Power will pay about $1.54 billion for the assets, assuming certain performance measures are met, and no less than approximately $1.48 billion.

The assets include about 6,200 megawatts of power generation, located in the western and northeast United States.

LS Power is a fully integrated investor, developer and management team focused exclusively on the power sector.

Quintiles tweaks deal

Quintiles Transnational also made a round of changes to its deal Thursday, moving some funds out of its second-lien and into its first-lien term loan, lowering pricing on the two term loan tranches and downsizing its revolver, according to a market source.

The first-lien term B due 2013 (B1/BB-) is now sized at $1 billion, up from an original size of $900 million, and pricing came in to Libor plus 200 basis points from original price talk at launch of Libor plus 225 basis points, the source said.

On the flip side, the second-lien term loan C due 2014 (B3/B) is now sized at $220 million, down from an original size of $320 million, and pricing was reverse flexed on this tranche as well, going to Libor plus 400 basis points from original price talk at launch of Libor plus 450 basis points, the source continued.

Lastly, the revolver due 2012 (B1/BB-) was downsized to $225 million from an original size of $250 million, resulting in a $25 million drop in the overall deal size to $1.445 billion, the source added. Pricing on the revolver remained at Libor plus 225 basis points.

Citigroup, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are the lead banks on the deal, with Citi the left lead.

Proceeds, along with cash on hand, will be used to fund the tender offer for Quintiles' $450 million 10% senior subordinated notes due 2013 and Pharma Services Intermediate Holding Corp.'s $219 million 11.5% senior discount notes due 2014.

Quintiles is a Durham, N.C., pharmaceutical services company.

Panavision upsizes, cuts spreads

Still on the theme of changes to in-market deals, Panavision decided to increase the size of its first-lien term loan B and reverse flex pricing on all tranches contained in its credit facility, according to a market source.

The five-year first-lien term loan B (B1) is now sized at $195 million, up from an original size of $180 million, and pricing on the paper came down to Libor plus 300 basis points from original price talk at launch of Libor plus 350 basis points, the source said.

In addition, pricing on the $115 million six-year second-lien term loan (B3) was reduced to Libor plus 700 basis points from original price talk at launch of Libor plus 750 basis points, the source continued.

Lastly, pricing on the $35 million five-year revolver (B1) was lowered to Libor plus 300 basis points from original price talk at launch of Libor plus 350 basis points, the source added. The revolver carries a 50 basis point commitment fee.

Credit Suisse and Bear Stearns are the lead banks on the deal that will be used to refinance existing bank and bond debt.

Panavision is a Woodland Hills, Calif., designer, manufacturer and supplier of precision camera systems for the motion picture and television industries.

Aveta changes repricing

Aveta has modified its amendment proposal so as to reprice its term loan at Libor plus 225 basis points with a step down to Libor plus 200 basis points if leverage falls below 1.75x, as compared to the original proposal which called for a repricing to Libor plus 250 basis points with a step down to Libor plus 225 basis points, according to a market source.

Currently, the term loan carries an interest rate of Libor plus 350 basis points.

As was always planned, the company is also increasing its term loan size to $300 million from its current size of $272 million, with the additional debt going toward general corporate purposes. Existing lenders have been offered their ratable share of the new debt.

Furthermore, the amendment would add an accordion feature for $200 million in incremental term loan debt, the acquisition basket will be increased to $250 million from $75 million and capital expenditure requirements would be tweaked minimally.

The term loan accordion feature would only be accessible if the company maintains its current ratings, if it is in compliance with all covenants, and whatever pricing the new term loan debt gets raised at, that pricing would replace the spread that the existing term loan debt carries.

Aveta's term loan was originally raised in 2005 to help fund MMM Healthcare's acquisition of NAMM - with Aveta being the holding company for the merged entity.

At the time of the LBO, Aveta's bank debt had been rated B2/B-. However, in December 2005, the company did a private equity deal that raised about $388 million of gross proceeds, of which $165 million was used to repay debt, resulting in a drop in leverage to 2.6x from 4.2x. Because of this, Aveta's ratings were raised to B1/B in 2006.

The debt reduction and the better ratings all play into why the company is looking to reprice its bank debt at this time.

Bear Stearns is the lead bank on the amendment.

Aveta is a Hackensack, N.J., medical management company with operations in Puerto Rico, California and Illinois.

Advantage Sales trims B spread

Advantage Sales & Marketing LLC lowered pricing on its term loan B by 50 basis points, and now that everybody has recommitted to the deal, the syndicate is hoping to get allocations out on Monday or Tuesday of next week, according to a market source.

The $480 million seven-year first-lien term loan is now priced with an interest rate of Libor plus 200 basis points, down from original price talk at launch of Libor plus 250 basis points, the source said.

Pricing on the company's $60 million six-year revolver, however, was left unchanged at original pricing of Libor plus 250 basis points, the source added.

UBS and Citigroup are acting as joint lead arrangers and bookrunners on the $540 million senior secured credit facility.

Proceeds from the deal will be used to help fund J.W. Childs Associates LP and ML Global Private Equity's acquisition of the company from Allied Capital Corp. in a deal valued at $1.05 billion.

Closing on the credit facility is targeted for Tuesday.

Advantage Sales & Marketing is an Irvine, Calif., sales and marketing agency.

Dole price talk surfaces

Dole Food came out with price talk on its credit facility, which is actually sized at $1.3 billion, not $1.275 billion, due to the presence of a larger-than-expected revolver tranche, according to a market source.

The $875 million covenant-light term loan B and the $100 million pre-funded letter-of-credit facility were both presented to lenders Thursday with opening price talk of Libor plus 200 basis points, the source said.

And, the $325 million asset-based revolver, up from an originally anticipated size of $300 million, was launched to investors with opening price talk of Libor plus 150 basis points, the source added.

Deutsche Bank is the lead on the deal that will be used to refinance existing bank debt.

Dole is a Westlake Village, Calif., producer and marketer of fresh fruit, fresh vegetables and fresh-cut flowers.

Cablevision hits 101

Cablevision's $3.5 billion term loan B (Ba3/BB) freed for trading during market hours, with the paper quoted at 101 bid, 101 1/8 offered, according to traders.

The term loan is priced with an interest rate of Libor plus 175 basis points.

Bank of America and Citigroup are the lead banks on the deal, with Bank of America the left lead.

Proceeds from the term loan B will be used to fund a $3 billion special dividend payable pro rata to all shareholders that was authorized by the company's board of directors on March 5.

The company recently closed on a $2.4 billion secured credit facility (Ba3/BB) consisting of a $1 billion revolver at Libor plus 125 basis points with a 50 basis point unused fee, a $1 billion tranche A-1 term loan at Libor plus 125 basis points and a $400 million tranche A-2 term loan at Libor plus 125 basis points.

This pro rata facility was used to refinance existing bank debt that was scheduled to mature in June.

When this pro rata deal came to market it was with a provision that allowed for a $3 billion-plus greenshoe specifically for funding of a special dividend.

Cablevision is a Bethpage, N.Y., media, entertainment and telecommunications company.

Angiotech tops par

Angiotech Pharmaceuticals also freed for trading on Thursday, with its $350 million seven-year term loan quoted at par 5/8 bid, par 7/8 offered, according to a trader.

The term loan is priced with an interest rate of Libor plus 150 basis points. During syndication, the tranche was upsized from $300 million and reverse flexed from Libor plus 175 basis points.

Angiotech's credit facility also contains a $75 million five-year revolver with an initial interest rate of Libor plus 175 basis points and a 50 basis point commitment fee.

Credit Suisse and Merrill Lynch are the lead banks on the $425 million credit facility (Ba3/BB-), with Credit Suisse on the left.

Proceeds from the credit facility will be used to help fund the purchase of American Medical Instruments Holdings Inc.

Under the acquisition agreement, Angiotech has agreed to purchase American Medical for about $785 million in cash, split into about $676 million to American Medical shareholders and $109 million to refinance existing American Medical debt.

When the acquisition was announced, Angiotech had said that it also intended to issue about $300 million of subordinated notes in connection with the acquisition, although as a back-up for the bonds, the company got a commitment for $600 million in term loans.

In the end, the company decided to approach the high-yield market with only $250 million in senior subordinated bonds, which were priced at par to yield 7¾%; so, with the term loan upsizing that was recently announced, Angiotech did not actually take out any more debt than was originally accounted for.

In addition to the new debt, the company also plans on using about $200 million of cash on hand for acquisition financing.

Following the acquisition, total debt to EBITDA will be 3.6x, EBITDA to interest will be 4.0x, debt to equity will be 130%, debt to total capitalization will be 56% and net debt to total capitalization will be 41%.

Debt to EBITDA is anticipated to drop to 3.2x in 2006, 2.3x in 2007 and 1.4x in 2008, with the company hoping to have the senior term loan paid off in full by 2008, only leaving the $300 million of subordinated bonds outstanding.

The transaction is expected to close early in the second quarter, subject to customary closing conditions.

Angiotech Pharmaceuticals is a Vancouver. B.C.-based specialty pharmaceutical company. American Medical Instruments is a Lake Forest, Ill.-based manufacturer of a variety of single-use medical device products for specialty areas.

Movie Gallery falls on numbers

Movie Gallery Inc.'s term loan fell in trading on the heels of Thursday morning's release of fourth-quarter and full-year financials, according to a trader.

The term loan closed the day quoted at 90 bid, 91 offered, down about a point from previous levels of 91 bid, 92 offered, the trader said.

For the fourth quarter of 2005, the company reported total revenues of $676.4 million, compared with $208.4 million last year, and a net loss of $546.5 million, or $17.25 per share, compared with a gain of $11.4 million last year, or $0.36 per diluted share.

For fiscal 2005, Movie Gallery's revenues totaled $2 billion, compared with $791 million for 2004, and net loss totaled $552.7 million, or $17.53 per share, compared with a gain of $49.5 million, or $1.52 per diluted share, last year.

Movie Gallery is a Dothan, Ala.-based operator of video retail stores.

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