First Data falls as CFO resigns; U.S. Renal breaks; TransUnion sets talk; Sophos adds lead

By Sara Rosenberg

New York, May 25 - First Data Corp.'s term loans headed lower in trading on Tuesday following news that the company's chief financial officer, as well as some other high-level employees, are leaving the company.

Also in the secondary, U.S. Renal Care Inc.'s credit facility freed up for trading, with the term loan quoted above the original issue discount price at which it was sold during syndication.

Over in the primary market, TransUnion came out with pricing guidance on its term loan as the deal was presented to lenders, and Sophos plc added a joint lead to its credit facility, which also launched on Tuesday.

Furthermore, IESI-BFC Ltd. is expected to revise its credit facility by eliminating the term loan and instead doing an all revolver structure.

First Data slides

First Data's term loan debt lost some ground in the secondary market after the company revealed a slew of management changes, including the resignation of its chief financial officer, according to traders.

The term loan B-1 was quoted by one trader at 83½ bid, 84 offered, down from 84 bid, 84½ offered, by a second trader at 83 3/8 bid, 83 7/8 offered, down from 84¼ bid, 84¾ offered, and by a third trader at 83½ bid, 84 offered, down from 84 3/8 bid, 84 7/8 offered.

The term loan B-2 was quoted by the first trader at 83½ bid, 84 offered, down from 84 bid, 84½ offered, by the second trader at 83¼ bid, 83¾ offered, down from 84 1/8 bid, 84 5/8 offered, and by the third trader at 83 3/8 bid, 83 7/8 offered, down from 84¼ bid, 84¾ offered.

And, the term loan B-3 was quoted by the first trader at 83¼ bid, 83¾ offered, down from 83¾ bid, 84¼ offered, by the second trader at 83¼ bid, 83¾ offered, down from 84 1/8 bid, 84 5/8 offered, and by the third trader at 83 3/8 bid, 83 7/8 offered, down from 84¼ bid, 84¾ offered.

First Data shakes up management

Early Tuesday morning, First Data announced that Pat Shannon, executive vice president and chief financial officer will be leaving the company, and controller Ray Winborne has been promoted to executive vice president, acting chief financial officer.

Shannon agreed to remain employed by the company through June 30 to assist in the transition of his duties.

Additionally, Bob DeRodes, executive vice president of global operations and technology, is leaving the company, too. Replacing him is chief technology officer Kevin Kern.

Lastly, Grace Chen Trent, executive vice president, communications, resigned from the company as well, effective June 30.

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

U.S. Renal frees to trade

U.S. Renal Care's credit facility began trading on Tuesday, with the $132.5 million six-year term loan quoted at 99½ bid, par offered, according to traders.

Pricing on the term loan, as well as on the company's $40 million five-year revolver, is Libor plus 450 basis points with a 1.75% Libor floor, and the debt was sold at an original issue discount of 99.

During syndication, the term loan was upsized from $125 million, the revolver was upsized from $30 million and pricing on the facility firmed at the tight end of the original Libor plus 450 bps to 475 bps talk.

Financial covenants include a maximum total leverage ratio, a minimum interest coverage ratio and a minimum fixed-charge coverage ratio.

RBC is the lead bank on the deal.

U.S. Renal buying Dialysis Corp.

Proceeds from U.S. Renal's $172.5 million credit facility (B1/B+) will be used to help fund the acquisition of Dialysis Corp. of America Inc. in a transaction valued at about $112 million. U.S. Renal is tendering for all of the outstanding common shares of Dialysis Corp. for $11.25 per share in cash, and that tender will expire on June 1.

Other financing for the acquisition will come from $40 million of mezzanine debt priced at 11¼% cash plus 2% is PIK.

As a result of the term loan upsizing, the mezzanine financing was downsized from $47.5 million.

The company said in a news release on Tuesday that it has satisfied all of the conditions in its debt commitment letter, other than those that have to be satisfied substantially simultaneously with funding.

U.S. Renal is a Plano, Texas-based provider of outpatient dialysis services. Dialysis Corp. is a Linthicum, Md.-based provider of outpatient kidney dialysis centers.

TransUnion talk emerges

Moving to the primary market, TransUnion held a bank meeting to kick off general syndication of its proposed credit facility, and in connection with the launch, price talk on the term loan was announced, according to sources.

The $940 million term loan is being talked at Libor plus 375 bps to 400 bps with a 1.75% Libor floor and an original issue discount in the 99 area, sources said.

The company's $1.19 billion credit facility (Ba3/BB-) also includes a $250 million revolver.

Deutsche Bank, Bank of America and JPMorgan are the lead banks on the deal, which has been pre-marketed to some investors since earlier this month, with Deutsche the left lead.

Proceeds from the credit facility, along with $645 million of senior unsecured notes, will be used to help fund Madison Dearborn Partners LLC's acquisition of a 51% interest in TransUnion from the Pritzker family.

TransUnion is a Chicago-based provider of credit and information management.

Sophos attracts joint lead

Sophos disclosed that HSBC has signed on as a joint lead on its $320 million senior secured credit facility, joining left lead bank RBC, according to a market source.

The credit facility was launched with a bank meeting on Tuesday. Price talk, however, was not given out as the company is waiting for ratings to come out later this week, the source said.

Tranching on the deal is comprised of a $20 million six-year revolver and a $300 million seven-year term loan.

The facility will include both dollar and euro debt.

Sophos being acquired

Proceeds from Sophos' credit facility will be used to help fund the buyout of the company by Apax Partners in a transaction valued at $830 million.

When the transaction is completed, the founders of the company will retain a significant minority shareholding. TA Associates, a minority shareholder in Sophos since 2002, will sell its full interest to Apax in this transaction.

Leverage is around 3.8 times.

Sophos is a Boston-based IT security and data protection firm.

IESI to remove term loan

IESI-BFC is anticipated to eliminate its $350 million term loan due in 2016 and increase its revolver due in 2014 to $950 million from $600 million, according to a market source.

The term loan was being talked at Libor plus 325 basis points with a 1.5% Libor floor and an original issue discount of 99. There was also 101 soft call protection for one year.

At launch, the revolver was being talked at Libor plus 300 bps with a 50 bps unused fee.

Bank of America is the lead bank on the deal (Ba2/BBB-) that will be used to refinance existing debt in connection with the company's acquisition of Waste Services Inc.

IESI is a full-service waste management company. Waste Services is a solid waste services company. The combined company will be based in Toronto.

Universal Fiber expected at initial pricing

In other news, Universal Fiber Systems LLC's $126 million credit facility is still working through syndication, but it's anticipated that pricing will finalize in line with initial talk, according to a market source.

The facility consists of a $111 million term loan and a $15 million revolver, with both tranches talked at Libor plus 525 bps with a 1.75% Libor floor and an original issue discount of 99.

BNP Paribas is the lead bank on the deal that will be used to refinance existing bank and mezzanine debt.

Universal Fiber is a Bristol, Va.-based manufacturer of high-performance, specialty synthetic fibers for niche segments of the commercial carpet, transportation carpet and specialty textile industries.

ViaWest closes

Oak Hill Capital Partners completed its buyout of ViaWest from Trinity Equity Investors, Goldman Sachs & Co. and Quilvest, according to a news release.

To help fund the transaction, ViaWest got a new $140 million credit facility led by RBC, consisting of a $10 million revolver, a $110 million first-lien term loan and a $20 million delayed-draw term loan, with all tranches priced at Libor plus 450 bps with a 1.75% Libor floor. The term loans were sold at an original issue discount of 99.

During syndication, the Libor floor on the credit facility was reduced from 2%.

Other financing for the acquisition came from a $60 million "silent" second-lien term loan that Oak Hill has already put in place with Barclays Structured Principal Investing Fund LP and Solar Capital Ltd.

ViaWest is a Denver-based data center and managed services company.

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