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The mood in the European leveraged loan market continued to improve this week, as several deals in the market were reported to be performing well.
Such is the new-found confidence, that the banks leading the pound(s)9.25bn LBO financing for Alliance Boots could be about to perform a volte-face and launch part of the senior debt before Christmas, EuroWeek has learned.
Three investors told EuroWeek that the bookrunners had sounded them out on the idea. However, details were scarce as even bankers at some
of the bookrunners had heard no more than investors. The process is being controlled closely by co-ordinators Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan.
Bank of America, Barclays Capital, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, Royal Bank of Scotland and UniCredit are the other lead banks on the deal, whose pound(s)7.25bn of senior debt has been sitting on their books for months.
"All the banks are trying to keep the information on Boots pretty tight," said a banker close to the deal. "Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan are leading the deal and the rest of us are being given details on a limited basis."
An official from Deutsche Bank said that "everyone is asking us to relaunch Boots but we are not commenting on the deal or rumours about future plans".
However, several sources on the buy side said that they had been contacted by the leading banks and asked for their opinion on whether the deal can be brought to market before February. According to an agreement between the bookrunners three weeks ago, February was the first date when the banks would consider a relaunch. At that stage, all the lead banks promised not to 'front-run' the facility , selling pieces of the loan quietly before formal syndication.
"They are certainly looking at [a relaunch] to see if is possible," said one...