Westar Capital, a buyout fund, received a hybrid $75 million asset-based facility for the purchase of Igloo Products last month. Michel Glouchevitch, managing director at Westar, said Fleet Capital was a natural choice because of the longstanding relationship the fund had with the bank. "We had familiarity with the bank and knew they had the wherewithal to underwrite the transaction," he said, adding he's pleased with the package that was arranged. "Fleet has a long relationship with Westar and was invited to join," explained Linda Jahnke, senior v.p. at Fleet.
The deal is a mix between an asset-based and cash-flow loan, providing more leverage than a traditional cash-flow deal, said John Roberts, sr. v.p. at Fleet. "We stretched on the assets, meaning we provided more credit than would be typically available under a cash-flow facility." Roberts explained that having the hybrid deal assured the bank that others would find it appetizing. Pricing on the $60 million revolver is LIBOR plus 23/ 4%. Pricing on the $15 million term loan is LIBOR plus 3%. Roberts and Jahnke explained the bank determined pricing on its estimate of what would get it fully syndicated.