Barentz Launches €150M Fungible TLB Add-On; Emeria Upsizes TLB Add-On to €550M, Syndicating All Debt Previously Expected to Remain on Banks’ Balance Sheets; Nielsen Prices Upsized $2.1B, €300M TLB Tranches for Elliott, Brookfield Acquisition

 
This week specialty ingredient distributor Barentz International launched a €150 million fungible term loan B add-on due 2027 to repay the company’s RCF, pay for pending acquisitions, and for minority buyouts and earnouts.

French real estate management company Emeria priced its upsized €550 million term loan B add-on, which will be used to support the acquisition of the company’s U.K. peer FirstPort, at 95.5, the tighter end of previous guidance, with a margin of Euribor+525 bps. The company originally planned to syndicate €300 million, with the banks keeping the remainder of the €560 million new debt on their balance sheets until market conditions improved. However the amount to be syndicated increased first to €400 million and finally to €550 million, with the OID tightening, reflecting strong demand for good quality paper from investors.

Data analytics company Nielsen priced its $2.1 billion dollar-denominated 6.5-year term loan B, which was upsized from $1.5 billion, and its €300 million loan tranche, upsized from €250 million, at 89 with margins at 500 bps over base rates. Proceeds of the loan tranches will be used together with proceeds of the $1.96 billion of seven-year senior secured notes raised earlier this month to fund the company’s acquisition by Elliott and Brookfield.

U.K. consumer credit provider NewDay priced £200 million of senior secured notes due 2026 at 13.25%. The new notes were part of an exchange deal under which holders of the company’s outstanding 7.375% senior secured notes due in 2024 were given the opportunity to exchange for the new 2026 notes. This type of transaction is becoming more common as issuers seek to address 2024 and 2025 maturities with less exposure to a challenging primary market. Last month, German pharmaceutical company Stada offered holders of its 3.5% senior secured 2024 notes the chance to exchange for new 7.5% senior secured notes due 2026 in addition to a cash consideration.

France-based automotive supplier Valeo priced its €750 million sustainability‐linked bonds due 2027 with a coupon of 5.375%.

Norsk Hydro placed 3 billion Norwegian kroner ($300 million) of senior unsecured sustainability-linked bonds. The issuance has two tranches. One is a NOK 1.5 billion floating rate tranche paying three-month NIBOR+2% and the other is a fixed rate tranche of the same amount paying 5.257%.

Coverage of Barentz International is HERE, Emeria HERE, Nielsen HERE, NewDay HERE, Valeo HERE, Norsk Hydro HERE.

EMEA Covenants has reviewed the bond exchange offer for NewDay HERE.