Search results for

Chase Securities Inc has arranged a $1.6bn facility for USA Networks Inc. The loan is split into a five year $750m term loan, a six year $250m term loan and a $600m five year revolver. Pricing is based on the company's total debt ratio. The Prime margin range for the five year loans is Prime flat to 50bp, the Libor margin range is 75bp to 150bp and the commitment fee range is 18.75bp to 37.5bp. The Prime margin range for the six year term loan is 50bp to 75bp and the Libor margin range is 150bp to 175bp.

Oliver Blount has joined Credit Suisse First Boston as a director in the bank's loan capital market's team. He will report to Grant Johnson, managing director. Blount worked with Johnson at NatWest, before Johnson took up his role at Credit Suisse First Boston. Blount left NatWest in early January. Bank of America has appointed Niels Pederson as a member of the bank's loan syndication team.

Czech Republic Banks have until April 9 to submit bids for the mandate to arrange a Ckr4bn facility for the City of Prague. The loan, which has a Deutschmark value of about DM200m, is the city's first syndicated facility in the Euroloan markets although it tried to raise a $250m loan in 1996 as part of a $750m financing programme.

SYNDICATION of the £400m debt facilities supporting Cinven's purchase of IPC Magazines Group plc from Reed Elsevier is to close imminently. Around 20 banks have come into the deal including co-lead arrangers Barclays and Fuji and co-arrangers Banque Paribas and Salomon Smith Barney. Bankers suggest the deal will close not fully subscribed but £20m or £30m short of Goldman's original target.

India Eight banks have joined the $70m tranche of the $123.5m project financing for Tata Communications Co Ltd arranged by BA Asia and Toronto Dominion (South East Asia). The eight year facility is split between a $70m portion and a $53.5m rupee equivalent tranche.

China ABN Amro Bank (Hong Kong) is coordinating a $15m, 364 day club loan for China Merchants Bank Ltd to finance the borrower's offshore activities. The last time the borrower was in the market was with a $100m FRCD arranged by Chase Manhattan Asia, Tokyo Mitsubishi International (Hong Kong), Dresdner Bank (Hong Kong), GiroCredit Bank and HSBC Markets in August 1996.

Australia Commonwealth Bank of Australia is in discussions with Citipower Ltd to refinance its A$1.2bn five year acquisition financing arranged by Commonwealth Bank of Australia, BA Australia and ABN Amro Australia which was completed in April 1996. Arrangers Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, National Australia Bank, Sumitomo International Finance Australia, Toronto-Dominion Australia with co-arrangers Société Générale Australia and Westpac Bank Corp are inviting banks to join as sub-underwriters for the A$1.932bn privatisation financing for Epic Energy (WA) Nominees Co Ltd.

DRESDNER Kleinwort Benson joined forces with Creditanstalt Investment Bank this week to complete the privatisation of Bank Austria through a transaction that resembled a block trade. The two firms sold 2m preference shares at Asch880, a discount of just Asch10 to the closing price of the stock, raising Asch1.76bn for the government - slightly more than was initially expected.

SUMITOMO Bank deftly sidestepped the financial year end jostle of Japanese bank CLOs to sell £479m of paper backed by its UK corporate loans. Sumitomo and its bookrunner Lehman Brothers were geared up to launch Aurora Funding (No 1) plc on Friday last week, but postponed the issue till yesterday (Thursday) to allow time for bookbuilding and to scotch any suspicion that Sumitomo was desperate to come to market before March 31.

SBAB, the Swedish state owned mortgage bank, may launch a Skr1.01bn securitisation of loans to five municipal housing companies as early as today (Friday), adding to the flow of packaged social housing loans from Europe. Houses in Sweden AB 1 (HISAB 1) will be a 7.5 year bullet security rated AAA by Standard & Poor's and Duff & Phelps. The deal has been structured by Swedish securitisation boutique Fredell & Co, and will be lead managed by a European bank.

* Lehman Brothers this week launched the first deal from its Structured Asset Securities Corp (Sasco) shelf to be backed by European assets. Sasco Europe 1998-C1 securitises a commercial mortgage portfolio acquired by Lehman early last year from Barclays Mercantile. The 780 loans have an average size of £140,000 and are extended to small businesses in the UK, including nursing homes. The bulk of the passthrough deal came in a £79.66m senior tranche, rated Aa2/AA, with a three year average life and coupon of 35bp over one month Libor.

SBC WARBURG Dillon Read will bring a new asset class to the sterling market today (Friday) when it parcels surplus income for UK mutual insurer National Provident Institution. But the deal has global significance too - to date this kind of cashflow has only been securitised in a few small, shorter dated private deals in the US. Mutual Securitisation plc will issue at least £250m of fixed rate paper in two tranches, with average lives of nine and 20 years. The bonds will amortise according to a fixed schedule. The short tranche, worth at least £130m, will be priced at 140bp over Gilts, while the longer piece will have a minimum size of £120m and spread of 170bp.