IASIS Healthcare Corp. has sealed a new $475 million refinancing credit with new lead banks after an earlier refinancing attempt failed last summer. The new deal is led by Bank of America and Citibank. The facility refinances a $455 million bank deal and also increases the company's capital expenditure allowance, said Carl Whitmer, IASIS' cfo. He declined to comment on the bank switch, saying only that, "People change banks all the time." The main reason for the refinancing of the credit was to renegotiate the capital expenditure limitations in the old bank agreement, explained Whitmer.
According to a Securities and Exchange Commision filing from the Franklin, Tenn-based hospital chain, the new facility increases the capital expenditure limit to $80 million per year. The limit on the previous line could not be determined. The new credit also reduces the company's current mandatory principal repayments and replaces a fixed charge coverage ratio with a senior leverage ratio requirement.
The credit consists of a $125 million, five-year revolver and a $350 million, six-year "B" term loan. Whitmer said the spread was consistent with the company's previous pricing of LIBOR plus 41/ 4%. The refinance follows an unsuccessful attempt last year led by BNP Paribas and B of A that was shut out after shocks in the equity market caused pricing to rise to unacceptable levels (LMW, 8/18). The lead banks on the original deal were J.P. Morgan, Scotia Capital, and BNP.