Goldman Sachs and UBS are leading the bank financing for Cerberus Capital Management's $2.3 billion acquisition of NewPage Corp. NewPage is the printing and writing papers business of MeadWestvaco Corp. The loan consists of a five-year, $350 million asset-based revolver with pricing of LIBOR plus 2 1/4%; a six-year, $750 million term loan "B" with pricing in the range of LIBOR plus 2 1/2% to 3%; and a seven-year, $500 million second-lien hybrid term loan and notes. Price talk on the second-lien is in the LIBOR plus 4 1/2% range.
Peter Vogel, current president of MeadWestvaco's paper group, will become NewPage's ceo. The acquisition includes mills located in Ohio, Michigan, Maryland, Maine and Kentucky and 900,000 acres of forestland in Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Tennessee. The papers business has about $2.3 billion in annual sales. Calls to Cerberus were not returned. A spokeswoman from MeadWestvaco declined comment.