The forward calendar for the European leveraged loan market stands this week at €12.35 billion, of which €7.65 billion is institutional debt. This is up from the €11.1 billion reported last week.
While repricings, recaps and refinancings continue to dominate the primary market, there is some new money activity on offer this week, not the least of which being the €1.115 billion facility from Sweden's Recipharm AB (publ), which offers manufacturing services of pharmaceuticals in various dosage forms, production of clinical trial material and pharmaceutical product development. The new term loan backs EQT's take-private of the firm after the sponsor submitted a revised bid of SEK232 per share in January, which valued the company's equity at SEK23 billion.
The strength of investor appetite for new paper means that the technical bid is pushing terms tighter on new-money transactions. The latest take-private financing was wrapped in the market last week, with Ahlstrom-Munksjö Oyj wrapping a cross-border term loan financing supporting its Bain Capital-led buyout. The European loan portion of that financing, a €600 million facility rated B/B2/BB-, was completed at E+375 with a 0% floor at par, far inside original talk of E+400-425 at 99.5 following strong investor demand, and was also upsized by €50 million.
New in the pipeline
Recipharm is lining up a €1.115 billion term loan to support its take-private by EQT. A lender meeting has been scheduled for March 16, and replies are due by March 30. The buyout of the pharmaceuticals firm is also backed by a £228 million preplaced second-lien loan and a SEK3 billion revolver.
Germany specialty beauty retailer Douglas Holding AG will also hold a lender call tomorrow for a new €1.08 billion term loan B, which will be used to support the firm's refinancing of its capital structure and to help overfund cash on the balance sheet. The new five-year loan will be open to syndication until March 25.
A lender call on March 16 will launch a new €290 million seven-year term loan from French private hospital group Almaviva Santé. Proceeds of the deal will be used to refinance debt and support future growth, and commitments are due March 26.
The forward calendar
Remaining in the pipeline is the debt backing the takeover of Lonza Specialty Ingredients by Bain and Cinven. The financing includes a senior and unsecured debt package of roughly CHF2.6 billion (€2.34 billion), likely to be structured with a senior loan portion, denominated in dollars and euros as well as a euro-denominated unsecured bond. A roughly €375 million revolving credit facility rounds out the debt package.
Four banks have underwritten a new €169 million term loan to back Montagu's takeover of IMV Technologies SA, which produces equipment and supplies used for animal reproduction and clinical imaging. The financing is being structured with leverage calculated from EBITDA of roughly €25 million, sources said. On top of the term loan financing, a revolving credit facility of roughly €30 million has been put in place. Syndication is expected to start shortly, according to sources.
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board has agreed to acquire The Carlyle Group's majority stake in packaging firm Logoplaste Consultores Técnicos SA. The takeover is backed by a staple financing, including first- and second-lien debt, but it is not clear whether this will be used. Market participants note that a loan-only financing may be in the works.
The acquisition of ADVANZ PHARMA Corp. Ltd. 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.
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 roughly €800 million.
A new deal may also emerge to back Waterland's acquisition of Priory Group Ltd., a U.K. operator of mental health facilities. The firm was acquired in late in 2020 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.
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 2020 and will be backed by a capital increase, existing cash resources and new underwritten debt.
Out to market
Already out to syndication are transactions totaling about €5.3 billion, not including repricings.
ADCO, which rents out mobile sanitary units, is looking to reprice an outstanding facility and has talked the repricing of its €565 million term loan due February 2026 at E+350-375 with a 0% floor. The existing term loan is priced at E+400. Replies are due March 16.
Crop nutrition firm Rovensa SA is also repricing a €520 million term loan due September 2027, looking to shave the margin to E+375-400 with a 0% floor from E+450. Replies are due March 18.
Investors have until March 18 to commit to a new €1.275 billion term loan B from French real estate company Foncia Groupe. The facility is part of a new €1.925 billion financing package that will refinance existing debt and pay a €475 million shareholder dividend. The term loan is talked at E+350-375 with a 0% floor offered at 99.5, suggesting a yield to maturity of around 3.63%-3.89%.
Thor Industries Inc. is repricing its dollar- and euro-denominated term loans due February 2026, with replies due March 18. The manufacturer of recreational vehicles has talked new terms on its €503 million tranche at E+325-350 and on its $942 million tranche at L+300-325. Both tranches have a 0% floor and are offered at 99.875-100, to suggesting a yield of 3.29%-3.58% on the euros and of 3.23%-3.51% on the dollars.
MBCC Group, formerly known as Skyscraper Performance Solutions, is repricing its €1.1 billion euro-denominated term loan and has put in place a new $570 million facility. The repricing has been talked at E+350-375 with a 0% floor, offered at 99.75. Guidance suggests a yield of 3.59%-3.85%. Commitments are due March 18.
Also out in the market is digital presence and enablement tool developer team.blue with a new €825 million term loan and €50 million delayed-draw facility, which will be used to refinance debt and fund a dividend for the Hg Capital-led shareholder group. The recap is also expected to bring a preplaced second-lien loan. Commitments are due March 18. The seven-year loan is guided at E+400-425, with a 0% floor offered at 99.50 to suggest a yield of 4.15%-4.41%.
Veritas Software Corp. is repricing its cross-border term loans of $1.322 billion and €549 million due September 2025, with price talk set at L/E+500 with a 1% floor at 99.875. The term loans are currently priced at L/E+550 with a 1% floor. Commitments are due March 18.
United Petfood Producers N.V. is in the market with a new €465 million, seven-year term loan B to fund its acquisition of British company Cambrian Pet Foods. The debt is marketed at E+350-375 with a 0% floor at 99.5, to yield around 3.63%-3.89%. Commitments are due March 19.
Swedish enterprise software group Industrial and Financial Systems, IFS AB (publ) is out in the market with a SEK11.8 billion-equivalent euro- and dollar-denominated term loan recap, with commitments due March 22. The seven-year deal comprises euro term loans of €520 million and €67 million talked at E+400 with a 0% floor at 99.5, to yield 4.15%, and a $720 million facility guided at L+400 with a 0.5% floor at 99.5, yielding 4.67%.
French bakery firm Cérélia SA is repricing its outstanding term loan due March 2027 alongside a new €75 million fungible add-on. The deal is talked at E+425 with a 0% floor at 99.75, to yield around 4.37%, while the deal will also add a margin ratchet linked to environmental, social and governance criteria to the deal.
