Financing in brief

Italian aerospace group Avio is preparing to launch debt of just over €2bn next week, through MLAs Banca Intesa (bookrunner), Citigroup, JPMorgan (bookrunner), Lehman Brothers (bookrunner), HVB, RBS (bookrunner) and UniCredito. The deal will comprise senior and mezzanine elements. Bank meetings have been scheduled for London on Wednesday and Turin on Thursday.Carlyle and Finmeccanica are selling their respective 70% and 30% stakes to Cinven, in a transaction that gives Avio an enterprise value of €2.57bn. Once the sale is complete, Finmeccanica will buy back a 15% stake in Avio, with the option to increase this to 30%. In addition, Finmeccanica will retain the right to acquire the group’s space operations. Avio was first bought out from Fiat for €1.6bn in 2003 in a deal backed by a €925m leveraged loan. The group was also in the market earlier this year with an €50m senior crossover loan paying about 75bp over Libor. That facility was oversubscribed but not increased. Prior to this sale, Avio had been heading for a listing, with JPMorgan, Lehman and Mediobanca believed to be mandated for the IPO.

The £430m loan backing the recapitalisation of Firth Rixson has been heavily oversubscribed ahead of close, through MLA Lehman Brothers. Flex is expected prior to the loan’s allocation next week. The deal is split into a £30m seven-year revolver paying 225bp over Libor, a £135m eight-year term loan B paying 250bp, a £135m nine-year term loan C paying 300bp, a £45m 9-1/2-year second lien piece paying 475bp and a £85m 10-year mezzanine tranche at 9.5%. Leverage is 5.4x total net debt to Ebitda. GE Capital and Lloyds TSB joined the deal as sub-underwriters. The deal sees sponsor Carlyle reduce its equity stake to 50% of the share capital. Coinvestment Partners, a vehicle owned and operated by Lehman Brothers, will take a 36% stake, while the remainder is in the hands of the company management.

The US$445m-equivalent loan backing Bridgepoint’s secondary buyout of motorcycle Grand Prix organiser Dorna from CVC has been launched, through MLAs SG, RBS and Bank of Scotland. Debt is split between a US$115m seven-year term loan A at 212.5bp over Libor, a US$145m eight-year term loan B at 262.5bp, a US$145m nine-year term loan C at 300bp, a US$15m seven-year revolver at 212.5bp and a US$25m 9-1/2-year second lien tranche at 425bp. Banks are invited to join on a single US$25m ticket for 45bp upfront. Total net debt to Ebitda is 7.6x, while senior net debt to Ebitda is 7.2x. While the headline multiples are punchy, the leads said they were justified because the company enjoyed a 20-year concession and threw off so much cash that it had been able to support a recapitalisation every year for the past five years. A bank meeting will be held in Madrid on Wednesday, September 27.