Newport ups OID; EB Brands floats talk; Dole up with upgrade; Cash rallies alongside equities

By Sara Rosenberg

New York, April 18 - Newport Television LLC increased the original issue discount on its term loan, EB Brands price talk started making its way around the market ahead of the deal's Tuesday launch and Speedy Cash announced plans to bring a new deal to market.

Moving to the secondary, Dole Food Co. Inc.'s term loan B gained some ground during Friday's trading session as some of its debt was upgraded by Standard & Poor's.

Also in trading, the cash market in general was noticeably stronger, with on-the-run names like First Data Corp., Texas Competitive Electric Holdings Co. LLC (TXU) and Alltel Communications Inc. seeing good flow, as people continue to feel bullish about the loan market, and Friday's stock market rally helped as well.

Newport Television widened the original issue discount on its term loan on Friday in the hopes of attracting more investors to the deal, according to a market source.

The discount on the $515 million term loan is now being guided in the 91 to 92 context, compared to the 95 level at which the tranche was first launched, the source said.

Price talk on the term loan is still Libor plus 500 basis points, with a 3% Libor floor, the source added.

Newport Television's $590 million senior secured credit facility also includes a $75 million revolver.

Wachovia, Goldman Sachs and UBS are the lead banks on the deal.

Proceeds from the already funded deal were used to help finance Providence Equity Partners Inc.'s recently completed acquisition of Clear Channel Communications Inc.'s television group for $1.012 billion. Providence's total equity commitment was about $260 million.

The sale included 56 television stations, including 18 digital multicast stations, located in 24 markets across the United States. Also included in the sale were the stations' associated web sites, the Television Operations Center and Inergize Digital Media, which manages the television group's online and wireless initiatives.

The acquisition was first announced in 2007 and before finally closing in mid-March, Providence tried to get out of the deal, but Clear Channel took the equity firm to court, and then Wachovia tried to back out of the debt commitment.

However, over the course of the negotiations, the purchase price for Newport Television was lowered from the originally agreed upon price of $1.2 billion.

EB Brands price talk

EB Brands came out with price talk on its newly announced $82 million credit facility ahead of the Tuesday bank meeting that will kick off syndication on the transaction, according to a market source.

Both the $30 million revolver and the $52 million term loan are being talked at Libor plus 450 bps, the source said.

However, original issue discounts on the facility are still to be determined, the source added.

GE Capital and National City are the co-arrangers on the deal, with GE the left lead.

Proceeds will be used to help fund Cortec's acquisition of the company.

EB Brands is a Yonkers, N.Y., designer and marketer of high-margin, high-impulse, niche accessories designed for the fitness, gift and travel markets.

Speedy Cash sets launch

Also announcing a Tuesday bank meeting during the Friday session was Speedy Cash, which will launch a $75.5 million credit facility in New York, according to a market source.

The facility consists of a $10 million revolver and a $65.5 million term loan, the source said, adding that price talk is not yet available.

Jefferies is the lead bank on the deal that will be used to help fund a minority sponsor investment by Friedman Fleischer & Lowe.

Speedy Cash is a Wichita, Kan., retailer of alternative financial services.

Dole rises on upgrade

Over in the secondary, Dole Food's term loan B was stronger in trading following an upgrade by S&P of the company's senior unsecured debt and the removal of both the senior unsecured and secured debt issue ratings from CreditWatch with negative implications, according to a trader.

The term loan B was quoted at 93 bid, 94 offered, up from previous levels of 92 bid, 93 offered, the trader said.

"It's up a point on the upgrade, but it's up probably three points since they announced earnings. On April 8, it was 88-89," the trader added.

On Friday, S&P upgraded Dole's senior unsecured rating to B- from CCC+ and affirmed the secured loan rating at B+.

Dole is a Westlake Village, Calif.-based producer and marketer of fresh fruit, fresh vegetables and fresh-cut flowers.

Cash pushes higher

The overall cash market saw an upward tick anywhere from a half to three quarters of a point during Friday's market hours, spurred on by general positive sentiment and the performance of the equity markets, according to traders.

As has been the case for the past few weeks, the more liquid, on-the-run type names are the ones that are seeing good two-way activity, traders continued.

For example, First Data, a Greenwood Village, Colo., provider of electronic commerce and payment services, saw all of its term loan B debt quoted at 94¼ bid, 95 offered, up from 93 1/8 bid, 93 5/8 offered, traders said.

Texas Competitive Electric Holdings, a Dallas-based energy company, saw its term loan B-1 quoted at 95¼ bid, 95¾ offered, up from 93 7/8 bid, 94 3/8 offered, its term loan B-2 quoted at 95½ bid, 96 offered, up from 94 3/8 bid, 94 7/8 offered, and its term loan B-3 quoted at 95 3/8 bid, 95 7/8 offered, up from 94¼ bid, 94¾ offered.

And, Alltel, a Little Rock, Ark., provider of wireless voice and data communications services, saw its term loan B-1 quoted by one trader at 91¾ bid, 92 offered, up from 91¼ bid, 91¾ offered, its term loan B-2 quoted at 91¾ bid, 92¼ offered, up from 91½ bid, 92 offered, and its term loan B-3 quoted at 92¼ bid, 92¾ offered, up from 92 bid, 92½ offered.

A second trader had Alltel's B-2 quoted at 92 bid, 92½ offered, up from 91 7/8 bid, 92 3/8 offered and its term loan B-3 quoted at 92½ bid, 93 offered, up from 92 1/8 bid, 92 5/8 offered.

As for the stock market, Nasdaq closed the day up 61.14 points, or 2.61%, Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the day up 228.87 points, or 1.81%, S&P 500 closed the day up 24.77 points, or 1.81%, and NYSE closed the day up 136.43 points, or 1.49%.

Alliance Data LBO gone?

Another bit of news that may have helped the overall tone in the loan market on Friday was the resurgence of the possibility that the Alliance Data Systems Corp. leveraged buyout agreement may have been terminated, according to a trader.

The deadline for closing on the buyout was this past Thursday, and with no news from either the company or the equity sponsor, people started to assume that the deal was dead, with little possibility for a lawsuit, the trader explained.

If the transaction has indeed gone away, that would take a $4.4 billion senior secured credit facility off the calendar, the trader added.

As committed, the credit facility, which was supposed to be led by Credit Suisse, consisted of a $3.9 billion seven-year term loan and a $500 million six-year revolver.

Alliance Data was also planning on doing a $2.21 billion bond deal comprised of a $1.8 billion senior unsecured notes offering and a $410 million senior subordinated unsecured notes offering.

Under the buyout agreement, Blackstone Group had agreed to purchase Alliance Data for $81.75 per share in cash. The transaction was valued at $7.8 billion, including the assumption of certain debt.

Early this year, Alliance Data filed a lawsuit against Blackstone seeking to have Blackstone comply with its obligations to obtain required regulatory approvals and to consummate the merger. The lawsuit was in reaction to Blackstone's claim that it did not believe approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency would be obtained.

However, in February, this lawsuit was dropped as the parties agreed to work together to close the transaction.

Then in March, Alliance Data once again notified Blackstone that it was in breach of the merger agreement and called on the private equity firm to complete the transaction. The company accused Blackstone of prolonging negotiations with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in an attempt to sabotage the deal.

Alliance Data is a Dallas-based provider of marketing, loyalty and transaction services.

84 Lumber closes

84 Lumber Co. closed on its $585 million credit facility on Friday, according to a market source.

The facility consists of a $390 million five-year ABL revolver and a $195 million five-year term loan.

Pricing on the ABL revolver is Libor plus 275 basis points, with a 25 bps commitment fee.

During syndication, the ABL revolver was downsized from $450 million and pricing was increased from Libor plus 250 bps, and the term loan was added to the capital structure.

The ABL facility is secured by a first lien on all assets at 84 Lumber, and the term loan is secured by a first lien on all real estate assets and a second lien on the ABL assets.

Suntrust Robinson Humphrey acted as bookrunner and joint lead arranger, with Wachovia on the ABL revolver and arranger on the term loan. Cerberus is the administrative agent on the term loan.

84 Lumber is an Eighty Four, Pa., supplier of building materials to contractors. Estimated 2007 revenues for the company are $3.045 billion.

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