AutoNation is lining up $900 million in loans via JPMorgan to refinance $325 million outstanding senior unsecured notes and potentially repurchase 50 million common shares, according to a March 7 filing with The Securities and Exchange Commission.
The potential deal is split into a $600 million revolver and a $300 million term loan that has an option to be increased to as much as $400 million. Additionally, $450 million in fixed rate notes and $450 million in floating rate notes are being issued. It could not be determined if JPM was also leading the note issuance. Moody's Investors Service rated the proposed deal as Ba2. Once the share repurchase has been completed, Standard & Poor's expects to lower the company's corporate rating to BBB-, and assign a rating of BB+ to the credit facilities. JPMorgan is the existing lead on a $600 million deal.
Located in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., AutoNation is one of the largest new and used auto retailers in the U.S. Calls to Craig Monaghan, senior v.p, and cfo at AutoNation, were not returned. A spokesman at JPMorgan declined comment.