UBS and GE Capital are said to be working on the financing backing Apollo Management's $600 million acquisition of United Agri Products (UAP) from ConAgraFoods. Apollo is paying $540 million in cash and the remainder in preferred securities. A banker said a $500 million asset-based revolver is the likeliest form of financing on the bank debt side. "This is a high working-capital business," he noted. There is also likely to be some high-yield financing with a bond deal of around $200 million, he added. Exact funding details are still to be decided, he said, but Apollo will contribute approximately $120 million in equity.
UAP, headquartered in Greeley, Colorado, had annual sales of approximately $2.5 billion, primarily from the distribution of crop protection chemicals, fertilizer, seed and other non-crop products throughout the North American agricultural market. "It's a distributor business to the agricultural business," stated an Apollo spokesman, who could not confirm the financing details. The transaction is expected to close before the end of the year.