Ultra Electronics sets call for cross-border term loan financing backing buyout

The cross-border term loan financing backing Advent's acquisition of Ultra Electronics Holdings PLC is out to market ahead of a lender call at 3 p.m. U.K. time/11 a.m. ET on Nov. 3. The financing includes tranches of $855 million and €475 million.

Barclays is sole physical bookrunner on the dollars, while Barclays, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse and HSBC are physical bookrunners on the euros.

One-on-one meetings will follow through to Nov 4. Price talk and ratings on the seven-year term loans, which come with six months of soft call protection, will follow. The commitment deadline is set for Nov. 16.

Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, Lloyds, Morgan Stanley, NatWest, RBC, SMBC and UniCredit make up the full mandated lead arranger group. Credit Suisse is agent for both tranches.

Cobham Ultra SeniorCo is the borrower for the euro tranche. Cobham Ultra US Co-borrower is borrower on the dollars.

Advent through Cobham confirmed the deal to buy Ultra Electronics on Aug. 16 in an acquisition that valued the London-listed group at £2.57 billion. The deal comes with commitments designed to allay potential government fears over national security and is subject to a public interest intervention notice issued by the Secretary of State for Business. This means the Competition and Markets Authority must complete and submit a report on the takeover by midnight on Jan. 18, 2022.

Advent agreed to buy Cobham in 2019, in a deal backed by a cross-border first- and second-lien loan financing allocated in January 2020. That financing included an €885 million term loan B priced at E+375 and a $1.188 billion TLB at L+350, with a 1% floor. There was also a £532 million-equivalent, dollar-denominated eight-year second-lien facility.

Ultra Electronics serves the defense, security, critical detection and control markets.