Bankers last week speculated that the agents on the $775 million Performance Materials credit might move money from the pro rata portion of the deal to the "B" tranche, which was devoured. Credit Suisse First Boston and Deutsche Bank are leading the deal supporting AEA Investors and DLJ Merchant Banking's leveraged buyout of Performance Material. The $410 million institutional blew out within a week, and bankers said given the general malaise in the pro rata market, an adjustment on the $365 million pro rata portion of the deal might be on order.
One banker expects the $50 million pro rata commitments to be downsized to $35 million. A banker on the deal said a scale down is an option but it is not something that has been decided yet. He noted that there is still a week to go before commitments are due on the pro rata and the agents would rather fill out the pro rata to keep the cost of capital down.