Dobson Communications Corp.'s $550 million "B" loan softened to the 99 1/4-99 1/2 range from the 99 3/4 context. Traders attributed this to Dobson's announcement that it will use its $150 million revolver to bid $26 million to bid for RFB Cellular's Michigan wireless assets. "The guys got a little spooked by this," one trader said. Lehman Brothers leads the debt, which is priced at LIBOR plus 3 1/4%.
Bruce Knooihuizen, executive v.p. and cfo of Dobson, did not return calls, but a spokesman for the company said the main reason that the level of the debt has softened is due to the company filing lower EBITDA guidance of $390-425 million to $335-345 million for the second part of the year. Average revenue per unit has not increased as fast as expected, he added. Finally, the company is only bidding on the RFB assets and a deal has not yet gone through.