First Data rises with earnings; Las Vegas Sands strengthens; Freescale holds steady; LCDX up

By Sara Rosenberg

New York, March 25 - First Data Corp.'s term loan B debt headed higher during Wednesday's trading session as the company announced fourth-quarter numbers that included an improvement in adjusted EBITDA and revenues.

In other secondary happenings, Las Vegas Sands Corp.'s strip of institutional bank debt was better in follow through from the company's recent amendment news.

Also, Freescale Semiconductor Inc.'s old and new term loan debt held firm after the company came out with a new update on its bond exchange offer and a final size on its incremental term loan, and the LCDX 10 index was stronger.

First Data trades up

First Data's term loan B debt gained some ground during market hours following the release of earnings results, even though the company did see a hefty net loss on impairment charges, according to traders.

The term loan B-1 was quoted by one trader at 66¾ bid, 67½ offered, up from 65¼ bid, 66¼ offered on Tuesday, and the same trader quoted the B-2 at 66 5/8 bid, 67 1/8 offered, up from 65½ bid, 66½ offered.

Meanwhile, a second trader placed all of the company's term loan B debt in the context of 66 bid, 70 offered, up about two points on the day.

First Data sees wider loss

For the fourth quarter, First Data posted a net loss of $3.218 billion, compared to a net loss of $273 million in the fourth quarter of 2007. The loss included a non-cash goodwill impairment charge of $3.2 billion.

However, revenues for the quarter were $2.317 billion, up 8% from $2.143 billion in the previous year.

And, EBITDA for the quarter was negative $2.676 billion, compared to positive $512 million in 2007, while adjusted EBITDA was $667 million, up 1% from $663 million in the prior year.

First Data is a Greenwood Village, Colo.-based provider of electronic commerce and payment services.

Las Vegas Sands moves higher

Las Vegas Sands' strip of institutional bank debt was stronger in trading, with the momentum still spurred on by the company's recent amendment announcement, according to traders.

One trader had the strip quoted at 50 bid, 51 offered and a second trader had the strip quoted at 50 bid, 52 offered. During the previous session, the debt went out around 48 bid, 50 offered.

On Tuesday, the company revealed that it is in discussions with its bank group about an amendment to its credit facility that would allow for the repurchase of $800 million in term loan debt.

Under the amendment proposal, the company would have until Sept. 30, 2010 to conduct the Dutch auctions and there would be a minimum repurchase offer of $25 million.

Las Vegas Sands is a Las Vegas-based developer of multi-use integrated resorts.

Freescale firm with exchange update

Freescale Semiconductor's term loan debt held steady on Wednesday after the company released bond exchange results and sizing of its new incremental term loan, which, according to a trader, came in line with expectations.

The old term loan was quoted at 38 bid, 40 offered and the new incremental term loan was quoted at 50 bid, 53 offered, with both tranches unchanged from previous levels, the trader said.

On Wednesday morning, Freescale announced the final results of its offer to holders of the 9.125%/9.875% senior PIK election notes due 2014 to participate as a lender in new incremental term loans.

Under the exchange offer, the company received commitments with respect to about $956.8 million aggregate principal amount of senior toggle notes.

Based on the amount of commitments delivered, the company will incur about $236.1 million principal amount of new incremental term loans.

This brings the total incremental term loan amount to around $917.5 million when combined with the incremental loans obtained on March 17 for exchanges of senior floating-rate notes due 2014, 8.875% senior fixed-rate notes due 2014 and 10.125% senior subordinated notes due 2016.

Freescale loan details

As was previously reported, Freescale's incremental term loan due Dec. 15, 2014 carries pricing of 12.5%, and is guaranteed by the same guarantors under the company's senior secured credit facility.

Citibank is the administrative agent on the deal, which was allowed to carry a maximum size of $1 billion.

The company's existing credit facility lenders were invited to participate in the new loan as well, but declined since the incremental debt is dilutive to bank holders.

Freescale is an Austin, Texas-based designer and manufacturer of embedded semiconductors for the automotive, consumer, industrial, networking and wireless markets.

LCDX gains ground

In more trading news, The LCDX 10 index moved higher on Wednesday, as did the stock market, while cash was described as feeling somewhat flat in light activity, according to traders.

The index was quoted at 74.20 bid, 74.50 offered, up from 73.40 bid, 73.80 offered, traders said.

As for stocks, Nasdaq closed up 12.43 points, or 0.82%, Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 89.84 points, or 1.17%, S&P 500 closed up 7.63 points, or 0.95%, and NYSE closed up 62.67 points, or 1.24%.

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