Evergreen International Aviation chose Wells Fargo Foothill to lead its credit facility after talking with various groups. The $100 million facility refinances the company's existing bank debt led by PNC Bank. "We keep in contact with the lending community that's out there and [Foothill] showed an interest in providing us a proposal," explained John Irwin, Evergreen's cfo. "We feel that [Foothill] better fits the working relationship with our company."
PNC did not make a pitch. "They had the existing facility. There was really no incentive for them to try to put something forward to us," Irwin noted. Ableco Finance also leads the facility, but came in right at the end of the negotiations, he added. Irwin declined to name other banks that made proposals.
The new deal comprises a $50 million revolver and $50 million "A" loan, replacing the line that was solely a revolver. "I think from our standpoint having a requirement for some debt reduction, which the term loan did, made sense," Irwin said, explaining the new structure. "We really didn't have the need for a true $100 million revolver. It was really simply the structure that the previous lender had put together. A $50 million revolver will meet the company's requirements."
Irwin said the pricing on the new facility is similar to that of the previous line, but declined to disclose the spread. There were a few reasons Evergreen decided to enter into the new facility. "We've been looking towards flexibility within the credit agreement, covenants within the credit agreement and availability of the line," Irwin said.