MetroPCS, NPC tweak deals; Peach sets talk; Oceania nets orders; Sherman pulled; AMD, Reynolds break

By Sara Rosenberg

New York, Oct. 24 - MetroPCS Communications Inc. made some changes to its credit facility, including upsizing the term loan B while lowering pricing on the paper, National Processing Co. (NPC) reduced pricing on its oversubscribed second-lien term loan and Peach Holdings Inc. came out with pricing guidance on its credit facility as the deal was launched to investors with a bank meeting during market hours.

In other primary news, Oceania Cruises Inc.'s credit facility is coming along nicely so far as investors jumped on board the transaction even before its Tuesday launch took place, and Sherman Financial Group LLC decided to remove its term loan from the market.

Meanwhile, in the secondary, Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s (AMD) term loan B freed for trading atop par, and The Reynolds and Reynolds Co.'s credit facility also broke, with the first-lien term loan trading in the upper-par's and the second-lien term loan trading in the upper-101's.

MetroPCS Communications reworked its term loan B tranche, increasing the size by $200 million to adjust for a decrease in the size of the company's bond offering, and reducing pricing on the loan, according to a market source.

The term loan B is now sized at $1.6 billion, up from an original size of $1.4 billion, and pricing was reverse flexed to Libor plus 250 basis points from original talk at launch of Libor plus 275 bps, the source said.

On the flip side, the company's proposed senior notes offering was downsized to $900 million from an original size of $1.1 billion, the source added.

The changes to the term loan B were a result of just about $3 billion in orders coming in to the deal from existing and new accounts.

MetroPCS' $1.5 billion credit facility (B1/B) also includes a $100 million revolver with a 50 bps commitment fee.

Bear Stearns is lead arranger on the deal and joint bookrunner with Merrill Lynch and Bank of America.

Proceeds from the facility and the bonds will be used to refinance $900 million of existing debt and fund the purchase of wireless spectrums won in the Federal Communications Commission's Auction 66.

MetroPCS is a Dallas-based provider of wireless communications services.

NPC cuts second-lien spread

National Processing reverse flexed pricing on its $140 million second-lien term loan (Caa2/CCC+) to Libor plus 650 bps from original talk at launch of Libor plus 675 bps on strong oversubscription, according to a market source.

Call premiums on the second-lien loan are 102 in year one and 101 in year two, the source added.

The company's $580 million credit facility also includes a $50 million revolver (B2/B) priced initially at Libor plus 275 bps and a $390 million first-lien term loan (B2/B) priced at Libor plus 300 bps.

During syndication, pricing on the first-lien term loan was increased to Libor plus 300 to 325 bps from original talk at launch of Libor plus 275 bps, before firming up at the low end of the revised guidance.

Merrill Lynch, Bank of America and Bear Stearns are the lead banks on the deal, with Merrill the left lead.

Proceeds will be used to back the already completed acquisition of the Louisville, Ky.-based Independent Sales Organization merchant processing businesses of BA Merchant Services by Iron Triangle Payment Systems, a GTCR Golder Rauner portfolio company.

Louisville, Ky.-based Iron Triangle Payment conducts its operations through its wholly owned subsidiary, Retriever Payment Systems, a leading merchant processor in the small- and medium-sized business market.

Based upon the number of merchant locations served, the consolidated business operations resulting from the acquisition will rank as the sixth largest provider of merchant processing services in the United States, supporting more than 260,000 merchant locations.

Included in the transaction is the National Processing Co. brand name and Best Payment Solution, Inc.

Peach price talk

Peach Holdings released price talk on its $335 million senior credit facility (B2/B) as syndication on the transaction officially kicked off on Tuesday, according to a market source.

Both the $300 million term loan B and the $35 million revolver were presented to lenders with opening guidance set at Libor plus 300 to 325 bps, the source said.

The revolver carries a 50 bps unused fee, the source added.

Bear Stearns is the lead bank on the deal that will be used to fund the acquisition of Peach by Orchard Acquisition Co., an affiliate of DLJ Merchant Banking Partners.

Peach is a Boynton Beach, Fla., specialty factoring company that purchases high-quality deferred payment obligations.

Oceania gets early interest

Oceania Cruises' credit facility received positive feedback from investors, as evidenced by the placement of early orders, with collateral and business outlook seen as the drivers behind the momentum, according to a market source.

"[It] has very good early tickets on first-lien and second-lien driven by strong asset coverage and good visibility of bookings," the source added.

The $400 million credit facility, which was launched with a bank meeting on Tuesday, consists of a $25 million five-year revolver (B1/B) talked at Libor plus 300 bps, a $300 million six-year first-lien term loan B (B1/B) talked at Libor plus 300 bps and a $75 million seven-year second-lien term loan (Caa1/CCC+) talked at Libor plus 700 bps.

UBS and Lehman are the lead banks on the Miami-based upscale cruise line's deal, with UBS the left lead.

Proceeds will be used to buy cruise ships that the company currently leases.

Sherman drops deal

Sherman Financial pulled its $500 million term loan B from the market after spending around three weeks trying to syndicate the "best efforts" transaction, according to a market source.

The term loan B was being talked at Libor plus 175 bps with 101 call protection in year one.

A different market source had previously explained to Prospect News that because the deal was a "best efforts" there would be no change in pricing or tweaks to terms to get it done as the company was just trying to see if they could get the loan at the rate they wanted.

JPMorgan was acting as the lead arranger and bookrunner on the deal, with Morgan Stanley as documentation agent and Deutsche Bank as syndication agent.

Proceeds were going to be used to refinance outstanding borrowings under the company's warehouse line.

Sherman Financial is a provider of debt recovery services for financial institutions, credit card companies, retailers and others.

Banta building strong

The syndication of Banta Corp.'s $465 million seven-year term loan has been receiving strong interest from lenders ever since launching into syndication about a week ago, according to a market source.

The term loan is being talked at Libor plus 200 bps.

When asked whether a 25 bps reverse flex in pricing was being anticipated by the market due to the positive reception, the source responded "too early to tell but it's a riot so wouldn't be surprised."

Banta's $515 million senior secured credit facility also includes a $50 million six-year revolver that is being talked at Libor plus 175 bps.

UBS is the lead bank on the deal that will be used to fund a special dividend and to refinance certain existing debt.

Banta is a Menasha, Wis., provider of printing and supply chain management.

Thermal North America firms pricing

Thermal North America Inc. firmed up pricing on all tranches under its $370 million two-year senior secured credit facility (B1/BB-) at Libor plus 275 bps, with a step down to Libor plus 250 bps based on leverage and ratings, according to a market source.

Original price talk at launch had been Libor plus 250 to 275 bps.

Tranching on the deal is comprised of a $35 million revolver, a $30 million synthetic letter-of-credit facility and a $305 million term loan B.

Lehman is the lead bank on the facility that will be used to refinance existing debt.

Thermal North America is a Boston-based private venture focused on investments in district heating and cooling systems.

AMD frees to trade

Switching to trading news, Advanced Micro Devices' $2.5 billion seven-year term loan B (Ba3/BB-/BB-) hit the secondary on Tuesday with levels seen at par 3/8 bid, par 5/8 offered throughout the afternoon, according to a trader.

The term loan B is priced at Libor plus 225 basis points with a step down to Libor plus 200 bps once the term loan has been reduced by $750 million. Original guidance on the loan at launch was Libor plus 200 to 225 bps.

Morgan Stanley is the lead arranger, bookrunner and administrative agent on the deal.

Proceeds will be used to help fund the acquisition of ATI Technologies Inc. for a combination of $4.2 billion in cash and 57 million shares of common stock.

In addition to term loan B proceeds, the company will use existing cash, cash equivalents and short-term investment balances of about $3 billion to fund the acquisition.

Advanced Micro is a Sunnyvale, Calif., provider of microprocessor services for computing, communications and consumer electronics markets. ATI is a Markham, Ont., designer and manufacturer of innovative 3D graphics, PC platform technologies and digital media silicon products.

Reynolds breaks

Also breaking for trading on Tuesday was Reynolds and Reynolds' credit facility, with the $1.64 billion first-lien term loan (Ba2/BB-) quoted at par 5/8 bid, par 7/8 offered and the $520 million second-lien term loan (B3/B-) quoted at 101½ bid, 102 offered, according to traders.

The first-lien term loan is priced at Libor plus 250 bps with a step down to Libor plus 225 bps at less than 4.75 times leverage. During syndication, the tranche was upsized from $1.485 billion and pricing was reverse flexed from Libor plus 275 bps with the addition of the step.

The second-lien term loan is priced at Libor plus 550 bps, in line with original price talk.

Reynolds' $2.485 billion credit facility also includes $75 million revolver (Ba2/BB-) priced at Libor plus 250 bps with a step down to Libor plus 225 bps at less than 4.75 times leverage and a $250 million third-lien term loan (B3/B-) priced at Libor plus 750 bps. During syndication, revolver pricing was reverse flexed from Libor plus 275 bps with the addition of the step and the third-lien loan was downsized from $405 million with pricing flexed up from Libor plus 700 bps.

Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse and Bank of America are the lead banks on the deal, with Deutsche the left lead.

Proceeds from the credit facility will be used to help fund the company's merger with Universal Computer Systems Inc.

Under the agreement, Universal Computer is buying Reynolds for $40.00 per share in cash, with the surviving Dayton, Ohio-based dealer services company to be named The Reynolds and Reynolds Co. The transaction is valued at $2.8 billion, including the assumption of Reynolds' $300 million of debt.

Equity financing for the merger will come primarily from a group of investors led by Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, Vista Equity Partners and others.

West closes

An investor group led by Thomas H. Lee Partners and Quadrangle Group LLC completed its leveraged buyout of West Corp., according to a news release.

To help fund the LBO, West got a new $2.35 billion credit facility (Ba3/B+) consisting of a $2.1 billion seven-year term loan priced at Libor plus 275 bps and a $250 million revolver with a 50 bps commitment fee.

During syndication, pricing on the term loan was flexed up from original talk at launch of Libor plus 250 bps.

Lehman, Deutsche and Bank of America acted as joint bookrunners on the credit facility, and Lehman and Deutsche acted as joint lead arrangers. Lehman is also administrative agent, and Deutsche and Bank of America are syndication agents. Wachovia is documentation agent.

West is an Omaha, Neb., provider of outsourced communication services.

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