Merrill Lynch has fully underwritten a debt financing package of more than $700 million, backing the $880 million buyout of Bombardier's recreational products business by Bain Capital, the Bombardier family and the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec. A banker said Merrill will syndicate a revolver, term debt and a bond deal after Labor Day, but the structure, pricing and leverage have not yet been decided. The revolver will be Canadian dollar denominated, but the senior and sub debt will be U.S. dollar denominated, the banker added. Merrill acted as an advisor to the investor group, explained the banker.
The other advisors on the transaction, BMO Nesbitt Burns and CIBC World Markets, are not involved in the financing at this time. BMO and CIBC bankers declined comment. A Merrill spokesman also declined comment. Bombardier is the world's third-biggest maker of commercial jets, but the recreation unit makes Ski-Doo snowmobiles and Sea-Doo boats. Bain will hold 50% of the new company, the Bombardier family 35% and the Caisse 15%. Spokespeople for Bain and the Caisse declined comment on the financing.