Ascensus, Amer Sports break; Genesys, KITO Crosby changes surface; Gray Television pulled

By Sara Rosenberg

New York, Feb. 9 – Ascensus Group Holdings increased the size of its add-on term loan and widened the issue price, and Amer Sports Inc. downsized its U.S. term loan B and upsized its euro term loan B, and then these deals freed to trade on Friday.

In more happenings, Genesys trimmed pricing on its incremental term loan B and revised the original issue discount, and KITO Crosby (Crosby US Acquisition Corp.) lowered the spread on its first-lien term loan, added a leverage-based step-down and modified the issue price.

Furthermore, Gray Television Inc. withdrew from market its first-lien term loan F, and Dayforce, FullBloom and Invenergy Thermal Operating I LLC joined the near-term primary calendar.

Ascensus reworked, trades

Ascensus Group Holdings raised its fungible add-on term loan due August 2028 to $550 million from $300 million and revised the original issue discount to 99.25 from 99.5, according to a market source.

Pricing on the add-on term loan is SOFR+CSA plus 350 basis points with a 0.5% floor. CSA is ARRC standard of 11.448 bps one-month rate, 26.161 bps three-month rate and 42.826 bps six-month rate.

Recommitments were due at 11:15 a.m. ET on Friday and the term loan began trading in the afternoon, with levels quoted at 99¼ bid, 99½ offered, another source added.

JPMorgan Chase Bank and Stone Point Capital are leading the deal that will be used to repay the company’s existing second-lien term loan in full, instead of repaying a portion of the debt.

Ascensus is a Dresher, Pa.-based provider of technology-enabled administration services to the tax-advantaged savings market.

Amer Sports tweaked, frees

Amer Sports scaled back its U.S. seven-year term loan B to $500 million from $600 million and increased its euro seven-year term loan B to €700 million from €600 million, a market source said.

Pricing on the U.S. term loan is SOFR plus 325 bps with a 0% floor and an original issue discount of 99.5, and pricing on the euro term loan is Euribor plus 350 bps with a 25 bps step-down at corporate ratings of Ba3/BB-, a 0% floor and a par issue price. Both loans have 101 soft call protection for six months.

Earlier in syndication, pricing on the U.S. term loan was set at the low end of the SOFR plus 325 bps to 350 bps talk and the discount was changed from 99, and pricing on the euro loan firmed at the low end of the Euribor plus 350 bps to 375 bps talk, the step-down was added and the issue price was modified from 99.5.

During the session, the U.S. term loan freed to trade, with levels quoted at 99¾ bid, par offered, another source added.

JPMorgan Chase Bank and Goldman Sachs are leading the deal that will be used with $800 million of senior secured notes, upsized from $600 million, to refinance existing debt, for general corporate purposes and to pay related fees and expenses.

Amer Sports is a sports and outdoor apparel, footwear, equipment, protective gear and accessories company.

Genesys flexed

Genesys reduced pricing on its non-fungible $800 million incremental term loan B (B) due December 2027 to SOFR plus 375 bps from SOFR plus 400 bps and adjusted the original issue discount to 99.75 from talk in the range of 99 to 99.5, according to a market source.

As before, the term loan has a 0.75% floor, CSA of 11 bps one-month rate, 26 bps three-month rate and 43 bps six-month rate, and 101 soft call protection for six months.

Recommitments were due at 12:45 p.m. ET on Friday and allocations went out later in the day, the source added.

Goldman Sachs Bank USA, BofA Securities Inc., Citigroup Global Markets Inc., HSBC Securities (USA) LLC, JPMorgan Chase Bank, RBC Capital Markets, UBS Investment Bank and Wells Fargo Securities LLC are leading the deal that will be used to fund a distribution to shareholders.

Permira and Hellman & Friedman are the sponsors.

Genesys is a Daly City, Calif.-based provider of AI-powered experience orchestration.

KITO Crosby revised

KITO Crosby trimmed pricing on its $1 billion 5.5-year first-lien term loan to SOFR plus 400 bps from talk in the range of SOFR plus 425 bps to 450 bps, added a 25 bps step-down at 0.5x inside closing net leverage and changed the original issue discount to 99.5 from 99, a market source remarked.

The term loan still has a 0.5% floor and 101 soft call protection for six months.

The company’s $1.12 billion of credit facilities (B2/B) also include a $120 million five-year revolver.

Commitments are due at noon ET on Monday, revised from a previously accelerated deadline of 5 p.m. ET on Friday and an initial deadline of 5 p.m. ET on Monday, the source added.

UBS Investment Bank, KKR Capital Markets, SMBC, Mizuho, ING and Morgan Stanley Senior Funding Inc. are leading the deal that will be used to refinance the company’s existing capital structure.

KITO Crosby is a manufacturer and marketer of highly engineered equipment and solutions used in lifting, rigging, and custom material handling.

Gray Television pulled

Gray Television shelved its $1.19 billion covenant-lite first-lien term loan F (Ba3/BB/BB+) due July 1, 2029 that was talked at SOFR plus 375 bps to 400 bps with a 0% floor, an original issue discount of 99 and 101 soft call protection for six months, according to a market source.

Wells Fargo Securities LLC was leading the deal, which was going to be used with a modest revolver draw to fully refinance the company’s existing term loan E due Jan. 2, 2026.

The decision to pull the new term loan F was a result of some current instability in the broadcasting sector following recent news that ESPN, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Co., FOX and Warner Bros. Discovery have reached an understanding on principal terms to form a new joint venture to build a platform for streaming sports service, the source added.

Gray Television is an Atlanta-based broadcast company.

Dayforce joins calendar

Dayforce set a lender call for 2 p.m. ET on Monday to launch a $650 million seven-year term loan B, a market source remarked.

The term loan has 101 soft call protection for six months.

Commitments are due at noon ET on Feb. 16, the source added.

JPMorgan Chase Bank is leading the deal that will be used to refinance an existing $644 million term loan B due April 2025 and for general corporate purposes.

Dayforce, formerly known as Ceridian HCM Holding Inc., is a Minneapolis-based provider of human resources software and services.

FullBloom readies deal

FullBloom scheduled a lender call for 10 a.m. ET on Monday to launch a fungible $100 million add-on first-lien term loan due 2029 talked with an original issue discount of 99.03 to 99.5, according to a market source.

Pricing on the add-on term loan is SOFR+CSA plus 425 bps with a 25 bps step-down at 3.99 first-lien leverage and a 25 bps step-down upon an initial public offering, and a 0.75% floor. CSA is 10 bps one-month rate, 15 bps three-month rate and 25 bps six-month rate.

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

JPMorgan Chase Bank is leading the deal that will be used to refinance a $100 million privately placed second-lien term loan.

FullBloom is a provider of special education, instructional intervention, behavioral health and professional development solutions.

Invenergy on deck

Invenergy Thermal Operating will hold a loan lender call at noon ET on Monday, a market source said.

MUFG is leading the deal.

Invenergy Thermal is a 2.29 GW gas-fired power portfolio consisting of four operating plants located across North America. The portfolio is owned via a 50/50 joint venture between Invenergy Clean Power LLC and InfraBridge’s Global Infrastructure Fund Platform.

Fund flows

In other news, actively managed loan fund flows on Thursday were negative $7 million and loan ETFs were positive $128 million, according to market sources.

Loan funds reported weekly outflows totaling $273 million, with negative $32 million ETFs, which were the first outflows for ETFs in 18 weeks. These were loan funds’ largest outflows since early October, a span of 17 weeks in which a net $2 billion flowed into the asset class.

Inflows for loan funds in 2024 total $250 million, compared to outflows in 2023 totaling $17.3 billion, sources added.

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