Buyers looking to invest in Brenntag's new euro loans have been able to pick up the "bank" tranches at healthy discounts. European loan traders said pieces of the E335 million "A" loan and E200 million revolver were trading in the 96-98 range. But they said trading in the name was spotty as some lenders were quietly paring down their positions.
In contrast, there were no discounts to be found on Brenntag's institutional tranches, including the E109.6 million "B" loan and E109.6 million "C" loan. The "B" loan was quoted in the 995/8-993/4 context and the "C" loan was quoted around the 100-1001/4 range. Brenntag also has a $325 million "B" loan that trades above par.
Originally some European investors had resisted the deal, which they believed to be structured more for the hot U.S. loan market. But ultimately, the deal was fully subscribed and some investors were hoping to pick up the paper at a discount in the secondary market (LMW, 3/22). Goldman Sachs and Citibank lead the loan, which backs Bain Capital Partners' leveraged buyout of the company from Deutsche Bahn. Officials from Bain Capital could not provide comment by press time.