Nebraska Book Co. is trying to cut the spread on its institutional term loan by 25 basis points to LIBOR plus 2 1/2%, with lead bank J.P. Morgan. The company's $179.55 million "B" loan will be converted to a "C" loan with the same exact terms except for the interest rate reduction, noted Alan Seimek, Nebraska Book's cfo.
Market conditions prompted the reprice, Seimek said. "From what I understand the term debt was trading up a little bit," he added. The debt was trading at 101 1/4-101 1/2, according to Mark-It Partners/LoanX. "[The] supply/demand for term debt was strong and J.P. Morgan thought we could shave the 25 basis points off with a couple of weeks worth of work," Seimek explained.
The credit was put in place in March as part of Western Presidio's recapitalization of the company (LMW, 2/23). "The market is strong enough that we think we can just get a little better than that," Seimek said. "[It] seems worthwhile to do." He referred questions to J.P. Morgan on whether they approached the company or vice versa. J.P. Morgan bankers did not return calls.