JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank are leading a $750 million deal to back the merger of Concerto Software with Aspect Communications Corp. The facility consists of a five-year, $50 million revolver; a five-year, $425 million "B" term loan; and a five-and-a-half year, $250 million second lien. Pricing could not be determined.
"We saw Aspect as a great way to accelerate our overall strategy," said Michael Provenzano, Concerto's executive v.p., finance, cfo and treasurer. "They [Aspect] have great technology, an unbelievable customer base, talented employees; we saw a lot of compliments in putting the two companies together." Provenzano explained that Aspect did have an active bidding process and came to Concerto early on. "I think we have a great opportunity to become the number one player in the space, I see great growth opportunities," he explained.
The choice of JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank as leads and Lehman Brothers as a joint bookrunner, was based on their strong relationships with the private equity groups and knowledge of the tech sector. "Those are the firms we thought were best suited for us," Provenzano said. "They are open to this size of transaction. Lending against a software company that typically does not have a huge amount of tangible assets, it is more than just asset-based lending, it is really more enterprise-based lending."
Upon closing, the new company will be named Aspect Software. It will be privately held by Concerto's investors, Golden Gate Capital, Oak Investment Partners and management. Golden Gate and Oak Investment currently control Concerto. Based in Westford, Mass., Concerto makes call center systems that handle incoming and outgoing calls. Aspect, headquartered in San Jose, Calif., also provides contact center solutions.
Jim Reagan, Aspect's executive v.p. and cfo, could not be reached. Calls to Golden Gate and Oak Investment were not returned.