W.R. Grace launches $300 million term loan B-3 at Libor plus 200 bps

By Sara Rosenberg

New York, March 23 – W.R. Grace & Co. launched on Tuesday its $300 million seven-year term loan B-3 (Ba2/BBB-/BBB-) with price talk of Libor plus 200 basis points with a 0% Libor floor and an original issue discount of 99, according to a market source.

The term loan has 101 soft call protection for six months and a ticking fee of half the margin from days 46 top 75 and the full margin thereafter, the source said.

Goldman Sachs Bank USA is the lead arranger on the deal.

Commitments are due at 5 p.m. ET on March 30, the source added.

Proceeds will be used to help fund the acquisition of the fine chemistry services business of Albemarle Corp. for about $570 million, including $300 million paid in cash at closing and $270 million funded through the issuance to Albemarle of non-participating preferred equity of a newly created Grace subsidiary.

Closing is expected in the second quarter, subject to customary conditions and regulatory approvals.

Net leverage is expected to be about 3.3x at year-end 2021 and in the 2x to 3x range by 2022.

W.R. Grace is a Columbia, Md.-based specialty chemical 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.