Barclays and ING Barings, co-arrangers on a five-year, $600 million revolving credit facility for London-based Inmarsat Holdings Ltd, launched syndication of the loan last week with the expectation of completing the deal by the end of the month. Ramin Khadem, cfo of Inmarsat, said the loan is for general corporate purposes and will replace a $400 million bridge loan signed at the start of this year used for short-term financing needs. The banks were chosen based on previous relationships they had with the company, he added. Inmarsat is an operator of global satellite systems for communications.
Pricing, tied to EBITDA ratios, has been set between LIBOR plus 75 basis points and LIBOR plus 95 basis points. Commitment fees are 37.5 basis points. Participation fees are 30 basis points for $30 million, 25 basis points for $22.5 million and 20 basis points for $15 million. Seven banks, including Bank of America, HSBC, BNP Paribas, Lloyds TSB Capital Markets and Société Générale joined ahead of syndication. Officials at ING in Amsterdam, Netherlands, declined to comment, referring further questions to Inmarsat. Loan syndication officials at Barclays in London did not return calls.