Financial markets in brief

• Pricing on Groupe Moniteur’s €337m debt package backing its acquisition by Bridgepoint has been reverse flexed. Calyon and RBS are MLAs and bookrunners on the senior debt, and on the mezzanine level with ICG.

Pricing on the B loan has been cut by 12.5bp, with the C loan flexed down by 25bp. The second-lien margin has also been reduced by 50bp.

Post-flex, the €267m of senior debt comprises a €75m term loan A at 225bp over Euribor, a €71m term loan B at 237.5bp, a €71m C loan at 275bp, a €40m seven-year capex/ acquisition facility at 225bp and a €10m seven-year revolver paying 200bp.

Subordinated debt comprises a €20m nine-and-a-half year second lien piece paying 500bp and a €50m ten-year mezzanine that has already been placed and will not be syndicated. The reverse flex has already been approved and the deal has been signed. Lead arrangers joined on €30m tickets and lead managers on €20m.

• MW Brands (formerly Heinz European Seafoods) has closed general syndication of the €315m debt package backing its Lehman Brothers and management buyout through bookrunner and MLA Rabobank. Kaupthing Bank joined as a MLA and underwriter of senior debt and Banca Intesa joined as a JLA and underwriter. The deal closed oversubscribed and the borrower is considering a reverse flex.

Senior debt comprises a €82.9m seven-year term loan A paying 225bp, a €61.1m eight-year B loan at 275bp, a €62.1 nine-year C loan at 325bp, a €15m seven-year capex facility at 225bp and a €50m seven-year revolver at 225bp. There is also a €42.9m ten-year bullet mezzanine facility, paying 5% cash, 5% PIK.

Dresdner Kleinwort as MLA has wrapped up the £597m debt package backing Macquarie’s buyout of Moto, the UK service station chain.

The facility was split between a £555m senior piece paying 150bp over Libor and a £42m junior tranche at 300bp over Libor, stepping up to 350bp in years four and five. Despite some talk of market resistance, the loan closed fully subscribed

• Kabel Baden-Wuerttemberg closed the senior syndication of its €1.27bn loan via bookrunners Morgan Stanley and RBS. The loan supports KBW’s secondary LBO by sponsor EQT. Blackstone is the vendor.

The loan is structured as a €110m seven-year term loan A at 225bp over Euribor, a €270m eight-year term loan B at 250bp, a €270m nine-year term loan C at 300bp, a €70m seven-year revolver at 225bp, a €300m seven-year capex/acquisition line at 225bp, a €70m nine-and-a-half year second-lien facility at 500bp, and a €180m ten-year mezzanine tranche paying 9.25%.

• Spanish private equity fund Inversiones Ibersuizas has mandated Rabobank to arrange and underwrite senior debt facilities to back its recent acquisition of Angulas Aguinaga, the Spanish market leader in surimi-based (processed fish) products.
• SG has been mandated to support PAI Partners’ €1bn buyout of engineering group AMEC SPIE. Debt includes both senior and subordinated tranches and totals €960m. The group is now working on a syndication strategy.
• Candover is looking to mandate banks to support its takeover of Applus. The private equity group is buying the testing, inspection and certification company group from a group of shareholders led by Spanish water company Aguas de Barcelona for €915.5m