The forward calendar for the European leveraged loan market stands at €13.69 billion this week, of which €7.26 billion is institutional debt. This is up from €13.43 billion reported last week.
As pricing in the market continues to grind tighter, yet more opportunistic transactions are expected, and already Valeo Foods, Multi-Color Corp. and Zentiva SA are all out to market with repricings. Market conditions have exceeded some lead banks' expectations, with eight reverse-flexes reported in January, and deals from ION Analytics Inc. and NielsenIQ both accelerated on Feb. 1 alone.
While more supply is on the way this week, with Apleona due in the market with the financing for its PAI buyout and ASDA still expected soon, these are not expected to assuage investors' appetites, and there are concerns about the long-term outlook for the pipeline of new-money deals going into the second half of February and beyond.
New in the pipeline
The Ardian-led takeover of European education platform AD Education SAS will be financed with a senior loan of about €200 million to €210 million. Syndication is expected to be launched next week.
The acquisition of Advanz Pharma Corp. by Nordic Capital will be supported by $1.58 billion-equivalent of euro bridge facilities, with a new senior term loan and senior secured notes expected.
The forward calendar
Real estate management firm Apleona GmbH is holding an investor call on Feb. 2 to launch the €740 million term loan backing its buyout by PAI. Replies will be due Feb. 11.
The financing supporting ASDA's buyout by the Issa brothers, the founders of EG Group and TDR Capital, is expected soon. The takeover of the U.K. supermarket chain is set to be backed by roughly £3.5 billion of bonds and loans. Secured leverage on the deal is expected in a mid-2x context, while net total leverage is roughly low-3x, according to sources (based on EBITDA of roughly £1 billion).
The £250 million term loan backing PAI's acquisition and merger of U.K. chilled-food groups Addo Food Group Ltd. and Winterbotham Darby & Co Ltd. is out to a select group of lenders, according to market sources. The deal has not formally launched, and it is not clear whether a general syndication phase will follow.
The financing backing CVC's buyout of building-materials distributor Stark Group comprises an all-senior loan package, according to those close to the deal. CVC acquired the firm from Lone Star.
Allied Universal's recommended £3.8 billion bid for U.K. security group G4S PLC may prompt new loan financing, with a number of interim facilities including secured and unsecured bridges in euros, dollars and sterling having been underwritten.
Debt backing EQT's takeover of Danish coloring ingredients manufacturer Natural Colors from Chr. Hansen Natural Colors A/S is also expected. The takeover was valued at about €800 million.
A new deal may also emerge to back Waterland's acquisition of Priory Group Ltd., a U.K. provider of mental health facilities. The firm was acquired late last year in a £1.078 billion deal, and will be merged with Waterland's portfolio firm MEDIAN Kliniken GmbH.
Elsewhere, a £275 million term loan is expected to refinance debt at McCarthy & Stone PLC following completion of Lone Star's take-private of the U.K. retirement-home builder. The five-year loan is in addition to a £225 million underwritten bridge loan lined up earlier to refinance McCarthy's £200 million revolver that is expected to be taken out through a high-yield bond issue.
Another expected deal is the new financing package supporting Francisco Partners' buyout of CDK Global's international business for $1.45 billion. A European first-lien term loan is expected to be launched, while a second-lien tranche will be pre-placed.
Also expected is financing to support French telco Iliad's acquisition of Play in Poland, and the financing backing Patrick Drahi's acquisition of shares he does not already own in the company he founded, Altice France Holding SA.
Financing is also due to back the takeover of British bookmaker William Hill PLC by Caesars Entertainment. The £2.9 billion deal was announced in September and will be backed by a capital increase, existing cash resources and new underwritten debt. Elsewhere, a Bain-led consortium has agreed to take Finnish fiber group Ahlstrom-Munksjö Oyj private in a €2.1 billion deal, excluding debt.
Out to market
Multi-Color, a global label provider, is repricing its cross-border term loans of $632 million and €500 million due July 2026. The issuer is looking to shave up to 50 basis points off the margin on its euro facility.
ION Analytics has accelerated syndication on a $1.9 billion-equivalent cross-border refinancing, with commitments now due on Feb. 3, from Feb. 5 originally. The transaction includes an €865 million tranche.
Generics group Zentiva is repricing a €1.275 billion facility due September 2025, shaving 25 bps from the margin to E+375. Commitments are due on Feb. 3.
Klöckner Pentaplast GmbH last week launched a €1.175 billion five-year cross-border term loan to refinance term loans and PIK-toggle notes. Commitments are due on Feb. 4. Investor meetings on a €725 million two-part bond offering run through to Feb. 3.
Data research firm NielsenIQ has launched a cross-border term loan of $950 million and $650 million-equivalent denominated in euros to back the acquisition of the business by Advent International. Replies are now due on Feb. 3, brought forward from Feb. 4. The firm was sold to Advent by Nielsen Holdings PLC.
Investors have until Feb. 5 to respond to a new term loan add-on of minimum-€350 million from Groupe ELSAN SAS. The private healthcare firm will use proceeds from the deal to partly finance its acquisition of generalist clinics group C2S.
Springer Nature Deutschland GmbH is out in the market repricing, amending, and extending its cross-border term loans B17 and B18, pushing the maturities out to August 2026. Commitments are due on Feb. 5.
CSM Ingredients is raising a new €245 million term loan to support Investindustrial's carve-out of the firm from CSM Bakery Solutions Europe Holding BV. Replies have been requested by Feb. 9.
