Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, BANK ONE and Lehman Brothers have pegged this Thursday as the date for the senior managing agent meeting for the credit backing Ball Corp.'s $900 million acquisition of Schmalbach-Lubeca. The bank deal totals approximately $1.45 billion, including a $500 million multi-currency revolver that will have between $100 million and $150 million drawn at closing, according to a banker familiar with the transaction. The bank debt also will include a $250 million "A" term loan denominated in either euros or British pounds, a US$500 million "B" tranche and a E200 million "B" piece. An approximately $300 million senior note offering denominated in euros and U.S. dollars will accompany the bank debt.
Moody's Investors Service has assigned a Ba2 rating to the bank debt, the pricing of which has not yet been set. The banker noted that deals are being priced much closer to launch at the moment due to increased uncertainty in the market. Officials at the four banks either declined to comment or did not provide a comment by press time.