Inergy, a propane marketing and distribution company, has increased its lending capacity with its newly refinanced $200 million credit, said Brooks Sherman, senior v.p. and cfo. The deal was increased in syndication from $175 million to $200 million, due to oversubscription, he added. The three-year credit is divided into a $50 million working capital revolver and a $150 million revolving acquisition facility, Sherman noted. The company has closed on four or five acquisitions since the close of the acquisition facility over the summer, he added.
Wachovia Securities is the administrative agent on the deal, as it was on the previous credit. "Our relationship with them has been good since it began...They have been able to provide us with an ever increasing amount of capital," Sherman said. Wachovia has been involved with the Kansas City, Mo.-based company's bank debt since 2001, when the company closed on an acquisition that doubled its size, he added. The previous credit was set to expire in 2004, but Sherman said Inergy wanted to get a jump on the refinancing, explaining why it was completed a bit early. "We have drawn on it, but not deep at all," he said of the facility, adding that the company has about $125 million in total debt. Pricing on the new deal is LIBOR plus 2%, with a 3/8% undrawn fee, Sherman noted. Inergy doubled the size of its lender group from six to 12 participants for the new facility.