Herbst, Ford, Georgia-Pacific, Aleris, TPF Generation set talk; Dynea tweaks structure; Revlon dips on refi

By Sara Rosenberg

New York, Nov. 29 - Herbst Gaming Inc., Ford Motor Co. and Georgia-Pacific Corp. came out with price talk on their new bank deals as the transactions were launched with bank meetings Wednesday.

In addition, Aleris International Inc. released price talk on its credit facility ahead of its Thursday launch and TPF Generation Holdings LLC started floating price talk around the market on its recently launched deal with the guidance based on certain expected ratings.

In other primary news, Dynea North America changed the structure of its credit facility as the deal launched during the session as well, with the primary change being a reduction in the size of its term loan tranche.

Meanwhile, in the secondary, Revlon Consumer Products Corp.'s term loan dropped in trading after news of a refinancing hit the market.

Herbst Gaming held a bank meeting on Wednesday morning in New York to launch its proposed $875 million senior secured credit facility (Ba3/B+), and in conjunction with the launch, price talk on the deal emerged, according to a market source.

The $175 million five-year revolver was presented to lenders with price talk of Libor plus 200 basis points, and the $375 million seven-year term loan B and $325 million one-year, with seven-year final maturity, delayed-draw term loan were presented with price talk of Libor plus 225 bps, the source said.

The delayed-draw term loan has an unused fee of 50 bps. It is expected that funding of the tranche will take place at the end of the first quarter of 2007, the source added.

Lehman Brothers and Wachovia are the lead banks on the deal.

Proceeds from the credit facility will be used to help fund the acquisition of some MGM Mirage assets and The Sands Regent in Reno, Nev.

Herbst is buying the Sands for about $139 million and MGM Mirage's Buffalo Bill's, Primm Valley and Whiskey Pete's hotel-casinos, which are located in Primm, Nev., for $400 million.

The Sands transaction is expected to close in early January, and the Primm transaction is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2007 (which is what the delayed-draw loan will be used for), subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of necessary regulatory and governmental approvals.

In addition to helping fund the acquisitions, the new credit facility will also refinance existing bank debt and be used for working capital and general corporate needs.

Herbst is a Las Vegas-based slot route operator.

Ford sets guidance

Ford launched its $7 billion seven-year term loan B on Wednesday with pricing guidance in the Libor plus 300 bps area and call protection for two years, then at 102 in year three and 101 in year four, according to a market source.

The company's $15 billion senior secured credit facility (Ba3/B) also includes an $8 billion five-year revolver.

JPMorgan, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs are the joint lead arrangers on the deal.

Commitments are due Dec. 7, with closing and funding planned for Dec. 15.

Security is first-priority liens on principal domestic manufacturing facilities and substantially all of the company's other domestic automotive assets, certain intellectual property, certain real property, all or a portion of the stock of certain subsidiaries, certain intercompany payables and notes, and up to $4 billion of domestic cash without restriction on its use.

Proceeds from the credit facility, along with about $3 billion raised in unsecured capital market transactions, will be used to replace the company's existing unsecured $6.3 billion credit facility, address near- and medium-term negative operating-related cash flow, fund its restructuring, and provide added liquidity to protect against a recession or other unanticipated events.

Ford is a Dearborn, Mich.-based manufacturer and distributor of automobiles.

Georgia-Pacific price talk

Georgia-Pacific released price talk on its $1.25 billion in incremental bank debt at a Wednesday morning bank meeting, with the company opting to stay in line with existing loan pricing, according to a market source.

More specifically, the $250 million revolver add-on was launched at Libor plus 225 bps and the $1 billion term loan B add-on was launched at Libor plus 200 bps, the source said.

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

Proceeds will be used to take out the company's second-lien term loan C.

Georgia-Pacific is an Atlanta-based manufacturer and marketer of tissue, packaging, paper, building products and related chemicals.

Aleris opening spreads

Aleris came out with price talk of Libor plus 150 bps on its $750 million five-year asset-based revolver and Libor plus 275 bps on its $1.1 billion seven-year term loan B (B2) as the deal is getting ready to launch with a bank meeting on Thursday, according to a market source.

Deutsche Bank is the lead bank on the $1.85 billion senior secured deal that will be used to help fund Texas Pacific Group's leveraged buyout of Aleris for $1.7 billion, plus the assumption or repayment of $1.6 billion of debt.

Aleris is a Beachwood, Ohio, manufacturer of aluminum rolled products and extrusions, an aluminum recycler and a producer of specification alloy.

TPF floats talk

TPF Generation came out with guidance on its $1.645 billion credit facility, which launched with a bank meeting on Tuesday in New York, with the condition being that this unofficial price talk is based on specific expected ratings, according to a market source.

The $50 million first-lien synthetic revolver due 2011 and $850 million first-lien term loan B due 2013 are being guided at Libor plus 250 bps, based on expected ratings of B1/B+, the source said.

Meanwhile, the $250 million "special" letter-of-credit facility due 2013 is being guided at Libor plus 175 bps, the source continued.

And, the $495 million second-lien term loan due 2014 is being guided at Libor plus 550 bps with call premiums of 102 in year one and 101 in year two, based on expected ratings of B2/B-, the source added.

Credit Suisse is the left lead bank on the deal that will be used to fund Tenaska Power Fund, LP's acquisition of six natural gas-fired generation assets from Constellation Energy.

Tenaska is buying 3,145 megawatts of gas-fired generation from Constellation for $1.635 billion in cash, subject to closing adjustments.

Dynea revises structure

Dynea North America reworked its bank deal a bit in connection with its Wednesday launch, downsizing the total size of the transaction to $245 million from an originally contemplated size of $270 million, according to a market source.

The change in the overall facility size came about through a downsizing of the seven-year first-lien term loan to $225 million from $250 million, the source said.

The senior secured credit facility also includes a $20 million five-year revolver (size unchanged).

As was previously reported, price talk on both the term loan and the revolver is Libor plus 225 bps.

UBS is the bookrunner on the deal that will be used to help fund Teachers' Private Capital's acquisition of Dynea North America from Dynea Chemicals Oy of Finland.

Dynea North America is a Mississauga, Ont., manufacturer of adhesive resins and overlay products used in high-performance adhesion and surfacing applications.

Crescent Resources revises talk

Crescent Resources LLC is now talking its $1.225 billion term loan at Libor plus 300 bps, the high end of original guidance of Libor plus 250 to 300 bps, according to a market source.

The company's $1.425 billion credit facility (Ba2) also includes a $200 million revolver.

Bank of America and Morgan Stanley are the lead banks on the deal that will be used to back the already completed formation of a joint venture between Duke Energy and Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund with respect to Crescent Resources, Duke Energy's real estate subsidiary.

Ownership of the joint venture is 49% by Duke Energy, 49% by Morgan Stanley Real Estate and 2% by Crescent's chief executive officer.

The transaction ascribes a total enterprise value of $2.1 billion to Crescent.

Crescent is a Charlotte, N.C., land management and real estate development company.

TNT Logistics filling up

TNT Logistics €805 million credit facility (B1/B+) has been getting a lot of attention from European investors since launching into syndication about two weeks ago, and U.S. investor interest seems to be picking up as well, according to a market source.

"European funds are coming in quicker largely because they weren't off last week," the source remarked. "But U.S. funds are starting to wake up. Things are expected to balance out over the course of the week."

The facility consists of a €150 million revolver, a €155 million letter-of-credit facility and a €500 million term loan B, with all tranches talked at Libor plus 250 bps.

The letter-of-credit facility and term loan B will be divided into dollars and euros, but the breakdown has not yet been determined. "There's no currency preference on the loan. Whatever works best is what will be used," the source added.

Credit Suisse, Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs and ABN Amro are the lead banks on the deal, with Credit Suisse the left lead.

Proceeds from the facility, along with €300 million in senior subordinated notes, €430 million in senior notes and about €310 million in equity, will be used to back Apollo Management, LP's already completed buyout of TNT NV's logistics division for €1.48 billion.

Total leverage is less than 5.0 times.

The logistics division is the No. 2 logistics company in the world, employing about 36,000 people, operating in 28 countries and managing 7.3 million square meters of warehouse space.

Panther Re trims spread

Panther Re reverse flexed pricing on its $72 million tranche A loan (Baa3/BBB+) to Libor plus 225 bps from original talk at launch of Libor plus 250 bps, according to a market source.

Pricing on the $144 million tranche B loan (Ba2/BB+) remained at Libor plus 450 bps, with 101 call protection for one year, the source added.

Goldman Sachs is the lead bank on the $216 million four-year credit facility that will be used for reinsurance financing.

Revlon slides on refi

Switching over to trading, Revlon's $800 million term loan headed lower after the company announced plans to refinance the debt, according to a trader.

The term loan closed the day at 101 bid, 101½ offered, down from previous levels of 102¾ bid, 103¼ offered, the trader said.

The reason behind the term loan dropping to the 101-type context as opposed to par is because the loan has 101 call protection, and that's where investors are expecting to be taken out, the trader explained.

Revlon is scheduled to launch its refinancing transaction with a conference call on Thursday. The new deal consists of an $840 million five-year term loan talked at Libor plus 350 bps and an amended $160 million multi-currency revolver talked at Libor plus 200 bps.

By comparison, pricing on the company's existing term loan is Libor plus 600 bps and pricing on the existing revolver is Libor plus 250 bps.

Citigroup is the lead arranger and bookrunner on the new deal. JPMorgan is the syndication agent on the term loan.

Revlon is a New York-based cosmetics, skin care, fragrance and personal care products company.

Intergraph closes

Hellman & Friedman LLC and Texas Pacific Group completed their leveraged buyout of Intergraph Corp. for about $1.3 billion, according to a company news release.

To help fund the LBO, Intergraph got a new $695 million credit facility consisting of a $420 million first-lien term loan (B1/B) at Libor plus 250 bps a $75 million revolver (B1/B) at Libor plus 250 bps and a $200 million second-lien term loan (Caa1/CCC+) at Libor plus 600 bps.

During syndication, the first-lien term loan was upsized from $390 million, pricing on the first-lien term loan and the revolver was cut from original talk of Libor plus 275 bps, and the second-lien loan was downsized from $275 million with pricing reduced from original talk of Libor plus 675 bps.

The $45 million that was lost from the credit facility with the second-lien downsizing and not quite equivalent first-lien upsizing was a result of the company opting for a $45 million CMBS transaction.

Morgan Stanley and Wachovia acted as the lead banks on the deal, with Morgan Stanley the left lead on the first-lien debt and Wachovia the left lead on the second-lien loan.

Intergraph also got a $60 million pay-in-kind loan for LBO financing.

Intergraph is a Huntsville, Ala., provider of spatial information management software.

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