syncreon, Huntsman, Digital Insight, Seminole free up; Renaissance Learning tweaks deal

By Sara Rosenberg

New York, Oct. 11 - syncreon Global set the spread on its term loan B at the high end of talk, widened the original issue discount, extended the soft call protection and then began trading on Friday, and Huntsman Corp. LLC, Digital Insight and Seminole Tribe of Florida hit the secondary market as well.

In more loan happenings, Renaissance Learning Inc. lifted the size of its term loans, firmed first-lien pricing at the low side of guidance and reverse flexed the spread on the second-lien tranche.

Furthermore, Exopack Holding Corp. surfaced with new deal plans, and details on P2 Energy Solutions' buyout financing emerged.

syncreon revised, trades

syncreon finalized pricing on its $525 million seven-year covenant-light term loan B at Libor plus 425 basis points, the wide side of the Libor plus 400 bps to 425 bps talk, moved the original issue discount to 97 from 99 and pushed out the 101 soft call protection to one year from six months, according to a market source. The 1% Libor floor was unchanged.

Other changes included outlining that there would be no leverage-based step-down on the term loan, reducing the incremental allowance to $150 million from $200 million, removing the MFN sunset and adding an aggregate cap on the expenses and cost savings EBITDA adjustment to 20%, the source said.

Recommitments were due at 10:30 a.m. ET on Friday and with final terms in place, the deal was able to emerge in the secondary marketing the afternoon, with term loan B levels seen at 98 bid, 99 offered, another source added.

syncreon lead banks

Morgan Stanley Senior Funding Inc., Goldman Sachs Bank USA and UBS Securities LLC are the leading syncreon's $625 million senior secured credit facility (Ba3/B), which also provides for a $100 million five-year revolver.

Pricing on the revolver is Libor plus 325 bps with no Libor floor.

Proceeds will be used to help fund Centerbridge Partners LP's acquisition of a 40% minority stake in the company. Existing shareholder GenNx360 Capital Partners and existing Enright Family-related shareholders will retain significant equity ownership in the company following the transaction.

Closing is expected on Oct. 28.

syncreon is an Auburn Hills, Mich.-based provider of customized supply chain services.

Huntsman tops OID

Huntsman's credit facility began trading too, with the $1.2 billion seven-year term loan B quoted at 99¾ bid, par ¼ offered, according to a trader.

Pricing on the B loan is Libor plus 300 bps with a 0.75% Libor floor and it was sold at an original issue discount of 991/2. There is 101 soft call protection for six months and a ticking fee of half the spread after 30 days and the full spread after 75 days.

During syndication, the term loan B was upsized from $1.15 billion, pricing firmed at the low end of the Libor plus 300 bps to 325 bps talk, and the ticking fee was revised from half the spread after 90 days and the full spread after 120 days.

The company is also getting a $200 million incremental 31/2-year revolver.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. are leading the deal that will be used to help fund the acquisition of Rockwood Holdings Inc.'s performance additives and titanium dioxide businesses for about $1.1 billion in cash and assume unfunded pension liabilities estimated at $225 million as of June 30 for the Rockwood businesses.

Closing is expected in the first half of 2014, subject to regulatory approvals.

Huntsman is a Salt Lake City-based manufacturer and marketer of differentiated chemicals.

Digital Insight frees up

Digital Insight's credit facility also broke, with the $385 million six-year covenant-light first-lien term loan (B1/B+) quoted at par bid, par ¾ offered and the $215 million seven-year covenant-light second-lien term loan quoted at (Caa2/CCC+) par bid, according to a market source.

Pricing on the first-lien term loan is Libor plus 375 bps with a 1% Libor floor and it was sold at a discount of 991/2. There is 101 soft call protection for six months.

The second-lien term loan is priced at Libor plus 775 bps with a 1% Libor floor and it was sold at an original issue discount of 99. This debt has call protection of 102 in year one and 101 in year two.

Recently, the spread on the first-lien loan firmed from initial talk of Libor plus 375 bps to 400 bps if corporate ratings were B2/B or better, or Libor plus 400 bps to 425 bps if corporate ratings were lower than B2/B, the floor was cut from 1.25% and the discount was changed from 99.

As for the second-lien term loan, during syndication, it saw pricing finalize from talk of Libor plus 775 bps to 800 bps if corporate ratings were B2/B or better and Libor plus 800 bps to 825 bps if corporate ratings were lower than B2/B, the floor drop from 1.25%, the discount move from 98½ and the call protection shortened from 103 in year one, 102 in year two and 101 in year three.

Digital Insight revolver

In addition to the new first-and second-lien term loans, Digital Insight is getting a $20 million revolver (B1/B+) as part of its $620 million credit facility.

Jefferies Finance LLC is leading the deal.

Proceeds will be used with about 47% in equity to back the already completed $1,025,000,000 buyout of Intuit Financial Services (renamed Digital Insight) by Thoma Bravo from Intuit Inc.

Digital Insight is a Menlo Park, Calif., provider of technology solutions to financial institutions.

Seminole Tribe breaks

Another deal to begin trading was Seminole Tribe of Florida's $395 million four-year term loan B-2 (Baa3/NA/BBB), with levels seen at par 1/8 bid, par 3/8 offered, a market source said.

Pricing on the loan is Libor plus 200 bps with no floor and it was issued at par. There is 101 soft call protection for six months.

Earlier, the spread firmed at the low end of the Libor plus 200 bps to 225 bps talk and the offer price finalized at the tight side of the 99¾ to par guidance.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC are leading the deal that will be used to refinance series 2010 bonds.

Seminole Tribe of Florida is a Hollywood, Fla.-based Indian tribe that owns and operates gaming and resort facilities throughout Florida.

Renaissance reworked

Back in the primary, Renaissance Learning upsized its seven-year first-lien term loan (B1/B+) to $328 million from $310 million and set pricing at Libor plus 400 bps, the tight end of the Libor plus 400 bps to 425 bps talk, a market source said. The tranche still has a 1% Libor floor, an original issue discount of 99 and 101 soft call protection for six months.

Meanwhile, the 71/2-year second-lien term loan (Caa1/CCC+) was lifted to $127 million from $120 million and the spread was reduced to Libor plus 775 bps from talk of Libor plus 800 bps to 825 bps, the source continued. The 1% Libor floor, discount of 98½ and call protection of 102 in year one and 101 in year two were unchanged.

Recommitments for the now $475 million credit facility, which also includes a $20 million five-year revolver (B1/B+), were due at 5 p.m. ET on Friday and allocations are expected to go out during the week of Oct. 14.

RBC Capital Markets LLC and BMO Capital Markets Corp. are leading the deal that will refinance existing debt and fund a dividend, the size of which was increased due to the term loan upsizings.

Renaissance Learning is a Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.-based provider of technology-based school improvement and student assessment programs for K-12 schools.

Exopack on deck

Exopack Holding set a bank meeting for Monday in London on Monday and for Tuesday in New York to launch a $750 million 51/2-year term loan B that is expected to include a euro tranche and have 101 soft call protection for one year, according to sources.

Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Investec and Morgan Stanley Senior Funding Inc. are leading the deal.

Proceeds will be used to help refinance existing debt.

Exopack is a Chicago-based manufacturer of plastic packaging products.

P2 Energy details surface

P2 Energy Solutions scheduled a bank meeting for 11:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday to launch its $480 million credit facility that will help fund its buyout by Advent International from Vista Equity Partners, according to a market source.

The facility consists of a $30 million revolver, a $295 million first-lien term loan and a $155 million second-lien term loan, the source said.

Jefferies Finance LLC is leading the deal that will result in first-lien leverage of about 4.2 times and total leverage of around 6.4 times.

About $360 million of equity will also be used for the transaction.

Closing is expected by year-end, subject to customary conditions.

P2 is a Denver-based provider of software, geospatial data and land management tools to the upstream oil and gas industry.

Alliance HealthCare allocates

In other news, Alliance HealthCare Services Inc.'s $70 million first-lien tack-on term loan (B1/B+) due June 3, 2019 allocated on Friday morning in line with initial terms, according to a source.

The loan is priced at Libor plus 325 bps with a 1% Libor floor and was sold at an original issue discount of 99. There is 101 soft call protection through June 2014 and a ticking fee of 162.5 bps from Nov. 1 through closing.

The spread, floor, call protection and maturity on the tack-on match the existing first-lien loan.

Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC is leading the deal that is being used with revolver borrowings and cash on hand to fund the redemption of all of the company's 8% senior notes due 2016 in December.

In connection with the new loan, the company is amending its existing credit facility to waive the 3.25 times first-lien leverage test on the existing incremental and allow for the tack-on loan, and lenders will be paid a 10 bps amendment fee.

Alliance HealthCare is a Newport Beach, Calif.-based provider of advanced outpatient diagnostic imaging and radiation therapy service.

Activison closes

Activision Blizzard Inc. completed the acquisition of around 429 million company shares and certain tax attributes from Vivendi SA in exchange for roughly $5.83 billion in cash, a news release said.

For the transaction, Activision got a new $2.75 billion senior secured credit facility (Baa3/BBB) that includes a $250 million five-year revolver and a $2.5 billion seven-year covenant-light term loan B.

Pricing on the B loan is Libor plus 250 bps with a 0.75% Libor floor and it was sold at an original issue discount of 991/2. There is 101 soft call protection for six months.

During syndication, the term B was upsized from $2.25 billion as its total bond offering size was reduced and the coupon was trimmed from talk of Libor plus 275 bps to 300 bps.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC led the deal.

Activision Blizzard is a Santa Monica, Calif.-based interactive entertainment publishing company.

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