Worldspan has completed a debut "B" loan in conjunction with a larger debt package, backing the company's acquisition by a consortium of private equity sponsors under the name Travel Transaction Processing Corp. The debt package includes a $125 million "B" loan, a $50 million revolver and $280 million of notes. Worldspan had originally come to market looking for a $100 million "B" piece, but increased the tranche after finding strong reception among loan market investors, explained Dale Messick, Worldspan senior v.p. and cfo. "We were very fortunate. We had a good story to tell," he said.
Travel Transaction Processing purchased Worldspan from Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines Corp. and AMR Corp.'s American Airlines. The firm was formed by Teachers' Merchant Bank and Citigroup Venture Capital Equity Partners. Travel Transaction Processing then chose Lehman Brothers and Deutsche Bank to lead the transaction, said Messick. The company previously had a $50 million line of credit, which was led by Regents Bank. Regents also participated in the new deal.
Pricing on the bank debt is LIBOR plus 33/4%. Worldspan also provided a non-financial incentive for investors in the loan. If firms signed on early to the deal or participated in the revolver, they would receive less of a cut back during the allocation process, explained Messick. The new notes carry a coupon of 95/8% over an eight-year tenor.