Freescale up with amendment; Ford term loan rises; Green Tree sets talk; Nalco overfills

By Sara Rosenberg

New York, Dec. 1 - Freescale Semiconductor Holdings I Ltd.'s term loan was better after the company launched an amendment to lenders that would allow for the issuance of debt and for maturity extensions.

Also in trading, Ford Motor Co.'s term loan headed higher during Tuesday's market hours as the company released monthly sales results and there was some increased buzz on the possible sale of its Volvo unit.

Over in the primary market, Green Tree Financial came out with price talk on its term loan B as the deal was launched to investors. Also Nalco Holding Co.'s term loan add-on received enough demand to more than fill the books by Tuesday morning, and, as a result, the commitment deadline was accelerated.

Freescale gains ground

Freescale Semiconductor's term loan moved up in trading as the company approached lenders with an amendment request in the morning, according to traders.

The term loan was quoted by one trader at 84¼ bid, 85¼ offered, up from 82¼ bid, 83¼ offered, and by a second trader at 84¼ bid, 85¾ offered, up from 82 bid, 83 offered.

Under the amendment proposal, the company is seeking the ability to issue secured and unsecured debt to reduce its term loan dollar-for-dollar.

In addition, the amendment would give the company the ability to amend and extend its credit facility at a later date.

Citigroup is leading the amendment.

Responses are due on Monday. In return for consents, lenders will be paid a 7½ basis point amendment fee.

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

Ford trades up

Ford's term loan was stronger on Tuesday following the company's November sales announcement and some new rumored developments on the sale of Volvo, according to traders.

The term loan was quoted by one trader at 88 bid, 88½ offered, up from 87½ bid, 88 offered, and by a second trader at 87¾ bid, 88¼ offered, up only on the bid side from 87¼ bid, 88¼ offered.

For November, Ford's total sales were 123,167, basically flat from 123,222 in the same period last year.

Total sales excluding Volvo were 118,536, down 0.2% from 118,818 in November 2008.

Car sales for the month were 42,479, up 14% from 37,272 in the previous year.

And, truck sales for November were 76,057, down 6.7% from 81,546 last year.

Ford getting closer to Volvo deal

Also on Tuesday, news emerged that made investors believe that Ford may be moving toward selling its Volvo business.

Various news reports claimed that Hong Kong-based Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. has received commitments for loans to help fund its bid to purchase Volvo from Ford.

"Geely, the possible acquirer of Volvo, secured financing so it may go through," the trader remarked about the Volvo sale.

"Would be more cash on hand for Ford," the trader added.

Ford is a Dearborn, Mich.-based automotive company.

Green Tree talk emerges

Moving to new deal happenings, Green Tree Financial held a bank meeting on Tuesday afternoon to launch its credit facility, and in connection with the meeting, price talk on the term loan B was revealed, according to a market source.

The $350 million term loan B was presented with talk of Libor plus 500 bps with a 2.25% Libor floor and an original issue discount in the 97 area, the source said.

The company's $380 million deal (B1/B+) also includes a $30 million revolver.

Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse are the joint lead arrangers on the deal that will be used to repay debt and fund a dividend, with Deutsche the left lead.

Green Tree is a fee-based servicing company that provides third-party servicing for consumer loans.

Nalco well-received

Nalco's $300 million term loan add-on was oversubscribed by Tuesday morning, allowing the lead banks to move up the commitment deadline to 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday from 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday, according to a market source.

The loan is being talked at Libor plus 175 bps to 200 bps with an original issue discount in the 90 to 91 context. There is no Libor floor.

Deutsche Bank and Bank of America are the joint lead arrangers on the deal. Those two banks, as well as Citigroup, are the bookrunners.

There was no formal call to launch the add-on, but rather it was put out in the market on Monday night via Intralinks and Bloomberg.

Proceeds from the term loan will be used to redeem the company's 7¾% senior notes due 2011.

Nalco add-on allowed by amendment

Nalco's $300 million term loan add-on came to market quick on the heels of the company completing on Nov. 25 an amendment to its 2009 and 2003 credit facilities that allowed for the new debt.

The amendment also increases the secured leverage ratio in the company's 2009 credit agreement following closing of the loan and repayment of the notes. As a result, for the fourth quarter, the secured leverage ratio would be changed to 2.30 to 1.00 from 2.00 to 1.00.

Furthermore, the 2009 credit agreement amendment allows the company to issue an unlimited amount of additional notes in order to acquire subsidiaries, increases the general basket in the investment covenant to $250 million from $150 million and increases the basket to acquire non-guarantor subsidiaries to $750 million from $350 million.

The company also amended its 2003 credit agreement to increase the general basket in the investment covenant to $150 million from $100 million.

Nalco is a Naperville, Ill.-based provider of water treatment and process improvement products and services.

Busch closes

Blackstone Group completed its buyout of Busch Entertainment Corp. from Anheuser-Busch InBev for $2.3 billion in cash plus the right to participate in Blackstone's return on its initial investment capped at $400 million, according to a news release.

To help fund the transaction, Busch got a $1.175 billion credit facility (Ba2/BB+) consisting of a $125 million revolver and a $1.05 billion term loan priced at Libor plus 350 bps with a 2.25% Libor floor and an original issue discount of 981/2.

During syndication, the term loan was upsized from $1 billion, since the deal was oversubscribed, and the mezzanine financing was downsized to $400 million from $450 million.

And, prior to launching to a select audience - there was never a general syndication bank meeting - the term loan was increased from $950 million and the equity was reduced to $975 million, and the revolver was increased from $100 million.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Mizuho Corporate Bank acted as the lead banks on the deal.

Busch Entertainment, which will now be known as SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, is an entertainment park operator.

SemGroup closes

SemGroup Corp. closed on its $500 million exit facility, according to a news release, consisting of a $150 million pre-funded letter-of-credit facility and a $350 million revolver.

Pricing on the pre-funded tranche is Libor plus 700 bps and pricing on the revolver is Libor plus 600 bps, with both tranches carrying a 1.5% Libor floor.

During syndication, the pre-funded tranche was upsized from $100 million, pricing was increased from Libor plus 600 bps and the upfront fee was increased to 5% from 2% to 3% based on ticket size.

Also, the revolver was downsized from $400 million. The upfront fee on the revolver was left unchanged at 2% to 3%.

In addition, during syndication, the maturity of the pre-funded letter-of-credit facility was revised to three years from four years.

BNP Paribas, Bank of America and Calyon acted as the lead banks on the deal that will be used for working capital.

SemGroup is a Tulsa, Okla.-based privately held limited partnership that provides midstream services to North America's energy industry.

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