UBS and Goldman Sachs have been mandated to lead the financing backing Castle Harlan's $650 million acquisition of Horizon Lines from The Carlyle Group. UBS is on the left for the bank deal and Goldman is on the left for the bonds, a banker said. Castle Harlan will use its $1.163 billion Castle Harlan Partners IV fund to buy Horizon.
The shipping company owns 16 vessels that operate under the protection of the Jones Act, which requires vessels used for cargo shipments between U.S. ports to be owned by U.S. citizens, built in U.S. shipyards and manned by U.S. citizen crews. A Castle Harlan spokesman declined comment and Mark Urbania, Horizon's cfo, did not return calls. UBS and Goldman bankers either did not return calls or declined comment.
Carlyle bought Horizon from CSX Corp. in February 2003 for $300 million. ABN AMRO and UBS led the $200 million credit backing the acquisition (LMW, 1/26/03). The deal comprised a $25 million revolver at LIBOR plus 3 1/2% and a $175 million "B" loan at LIBOR plus 4%. Horizon came back to the market last August to cut the pricing on the "B" loan down to LIBOR plus 3% and scale down the revolver pricing grid by 50 basis points.