JPMorgan, Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse First Boston and Royal Bank of Scotland are underwriting €10.2 billion of debt financing for the purchase of Danish phone company TDC, Europe’s biggest ever leveraged buyout.
The financing includes senior term loans of €7.8 billion, a cash bridge facility of €1.1 billion and another €2.27 billion bridge facility expected to be refinanced with high-yield bonds. There is also a €700 million revolving credit facility and a €350 million pay-in-kind loan, where the interest is paid with another loan. If the €2.27 billion bridge facility is financed solely in the euro market, it will be the largest ever sale of euro-denominated high-yield bonds for a European company. The biggest to date was the €1.3 billion sold by Italian directories company Seat Pagine Gialle in April 2004.
Apax Partners, Blackstone Group, KKR, Permira Advisers and Providence Equity Partners are buying TDC for $15 billion including cash and debt. It is the second-largest buyout globally after KKR’s $31.3 billion acquisition of RJR Nabisco in 1989.