WeightWatchers.com, the Web site for Weight Watchers International, is looking for a $220 million credit and held a bank meeting last Thursday. The Credit Suisse First Boston-led deal consists of a five-year, $150 million term loan "B" and a five-and-a-half year, $70 million second-lien term loan. Pricing could not be determined.
Moody's Investors Service assigned a Ba3 rating to the first lien and a B1 to the second lien. WW.com is currently a 53% owned subsidiary of Weight Watchers and pursuant to a redemption agreement, shares of WW.com owned by Artal Luxembourg are expected to be redeemed in December 2005 for $304.8 million, according to Moody's. WW.com expects to use the proceeds from the term loans and about $88.8 million of existing cash to fund the redemption price and related fees. A Weight Watchers representative could not be reached.