United Natural Foods sets talk; Altice USA launches $1.28 billion

By Paul A. Harris

Portland, Ore., Oct. 2 – In Tuesday's leveraged loan market United Natural Foods Inc. set talk on its $2.05 billion seven-year term loan B (B2/B+).

And Altice USA, Inc. launched a $1,275,000,000 term loan B with a 7.25-year maturity via a Tuesday lender call.

Meanwhile the United Rentals (North America) Inc. $1 billion seven-year covenant-light term loan B (Baa3/BBB-) is oversubscribed, according to a loan trader who added that there was $1.3 billion in the book for the deal on Tuesday morning.

The deal is talked at Libor plus 175 basis points to 200 bps at 99.75.

The pricing and credit ratings notwithstanding, the acquisition deal is expected to garner attention from high-yield bond players, especially crossover accounts.

In the secondary market the new Envision Healthcare Corp. Libor plus 375 basis points seven-year covenant-light first-lien term loan B is trading poorly, the trader said, adding that the paper is generically 99½ bid, 99¾ offered.

The upsized $5.45 billion deal (from $5.05 billion), priced in late September at 99.75, rich to the 99 to 99.5 talk.

The deal came with more leverage than the mainstream bank loan accounts have a stomach for, the trader recounted.

However it had a sizable audience from the junk-bond world, the source added, remarking that when that dynamic comes into play – high-yield bond accounts playing highly leveraged bank deals – the loans tend to trade poorly.

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