At least $1.75 billion in tickets were in late last week for the $850 million "B" tranche for the deal backing the $3 billion merger between Riverwood Holdings and Graphic Packaging International Corp. The tranche had about $1 billion in tickets after the June 5 meeting, in which some investors had bid for pieces of the loan even before syndication launched. A banker familiar with the deal said it was possible that the tranche size could be increased, but that was not definite. J.P. Morgan, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse First Boston and Citigroup lead the $1.6 billion acquisition and refinancing credit, which also includes a $400 million revolver and a $350 million "A" loan. Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, CSFB, J.P. Morgan and Goldman officials declined to comment. Citi bankers did not return calls.
The banker said the pro rata was still not fully subscribed, but the leads did bring in three managing agents with $40 million tickets. He would not name the lenders. Pricing is at LIBOR plus 3% for both tranches, but there was talk of flexing down pricing late last week. The merger of the two paperboard packaging companies is expected to complete in the third quarter of this year, at which time the company will be called Graphic Packaging Corp. Goldman and CSFB are financial advisers on the merger. Daniel Blount, cfo of Riverwood and senior v.p. of integration upon completion of the merger, did not return calls.