Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley have added a $250 million second-lien "C" loan to the E1 billion credit facility backing The Blackstone Group's E3.1 billion acquisition of Celanese. Strong demand for the bank paper influenced the leads in bringing the new tranche, a banker said. The E500 million "B" loan was more than two times oversubscribed and has not yet closed, he added. Around the time of launch, one buysider commented that it would not be surprising to see the senior debt increased (LMW, 5/17).
The new tranche is being done on a second-lien basis because demand was so heavy on the first and the company had more capacity to add bank debt, the banker noted. The pricing on the facility has not yet been determined and will be relative to the subordinated notes due to price this week, the banker said. A buysider said price talk is around LIBOR plus 3 1/2-4%. Reportedly, the bonds backing the Celanese acquisition have been downsized to $1.315 billion from $1.565 billion. "What they're really trying to do is decrease the bonds, because it is such a big number," the buysider noted.
Leverage is around 1.4 times through the second lien and is one turn through the first. The facility also includes a E312.5 million revolver and E187.5 million letter of credit facility, which both went out to investors at LIBOR plus 2 1/2%. The E500 million "B" loan launched at LIBOR plus 2 3/4%. Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley bankers either did not return calls or declined comment.