Bank of Nova Scotia will bring to market a $300 million, 364-day revolver backing Biovail Corporation's $409.5 million acquisition of Aventis Pharmaceuticals, according to an official familiar with the deal. Ken Howling, v.p. finance of Biovail in Mississauga, Ontario, would only confirm that Scotia has arranged the financing and that the company has enjoyed a long-standing relationship with the bank. He added that the company is very satisfied with the deal's terms. He declined further comment. Biovail is a pharmaceutical company. Aventis, based in Bridgewater, N.J., is the U.S. pharmaceutical subsidiary of Aventis SA. Aventis and Scotia officials did not return calls. Scotia will launch syndication with a bank meeting in Toronto, but a date has not been decided. The banker also said that Scotia has not decided if there will be a preliminary round of syndication seeking other titled agents and managing agents. Pricing will be leverage-based, but the banker declined to reveal the grid, spread and Biovail's current leverage. Linli Chee, analyst at Standard & Poor's, estimated the company's current debt to capitalization adjusted for operating leases is between 55% and 60%. "They've already drawn down $150 million from the new revolver, so it's definitely pushed passed the previous 48%." In October of last year, S&P confirmed Biovail's BB- corporate credit rating. S&P is currently in talks with Biovail management regarding its Aventis acquisition, and should issue a new rating report sometime this week.
Scotia To Bring Pharmaceutical Credit To Mart