By Claire Ruckin
LONDON (Reuters) - Bankers are preparing debt financings to back a number of potential sales that could provide a big boost to the leveraged finance market in the last quarter of 2014 and soak up some of the demand from cash rich investors hungry for event driven deals, banking sources said.
Bids are due on several sale processes in September and bankers are working on financings totalling around 5 billion euros (6.58 billion US dollar) for companies including Gala Coral's bingo division; Germany's largest private-sector chain of rehabilitation clinics Median Kliniken; Norwegian cable group Get; Slovenia telecom firm Telekom Slovenije; Swiss drink cartons maker SIG Combibloc Group; and Danish crop protection company Cheminova.
The companies were either not immediately available to comment or declined to comment.
"All of these companies should attract a lot of interest from potential buyers and debt investors – all eager to do deals and put money to work," a leveraged finance banker said.
Lazard is running the sale of Gala's 135 bingo clubs which is attracting interest from a number of potential buyers and final round bids are due September 15. With Ebitda of around 50 million pounds (82.89 million US dollar), bankers are putting together all-senior leveraged loan financings of around 4.5 times debt to earnings, totalling around 225 million pounds.
Bankers are also working on financings of up to around 600 million euros or 6.5-7 times debt to earnings for Median, owned by buyout firm Advent International and British real estate investor Marcol. Debt is expected to be in the form of first and second lien loans.
CABLE DEAL
Get owners Quadrangle and GS Capital Partners had considered a sale of the company in 2012 but opted to conduct a dividend recapitalisation instead. The company is now up for sale with bids due shortly and bankers are considering senior loans, second lien loans and high yield bonds to back a deal.
About 2.8 billion euros of debt has been put together to back a potential sale of SIG Combibloc Group, while debt financings of up to 720 million euros to back a potential sale of Cheminova are also being prepared, with final bids for the business due September 4.
Broadcasting masts group TDF's French unit looks likely to be sold to Canadian pension fund PSP Investment, banking sources said.
Bankers are preparing around 1.5 billion euros to back PSP's bid or 4 times debt to earnings, in the form of an infrastructure, corporate style loan. Some bankers are disappointed the financing will not be in the form of leveraged loans, which would have totalled around 2.65 billion euros.
(1 US dollar = 0.7598 euro)
(1 US dollar = 0.6032 British pound)
(Editing by Christopher Mangham)