LPC-European lingerie in China http://www.lover-beauty.com/ LBO activity stays strong

LONDON, Wholesale Bikini http://www.lover-beauty.com/Bikini/ Sept 4 Leveraged loan bankers are

working on financings lingerie in China totalling up to 12 billion euros to back a number of new buyouts that are in the auction

phase as Europe’s leveraged loan market becomes increasingly

attractive amid wider macro volatility.

Global market instability stemming from China’s stock market

rout and tumbling commodity and oil prices have led many sellers

to broaden their exit route opportunities in order to extract

the best value.

A number of sellers are running dual-track processes to

engage with as many buyers as possible. Such deals include those

of British payments processing firm Worldpay IPO-WORLD.L,

French smartcard maker Oberthur Technologies, Swedish chemicals

firm Perstorp and Ardagh’s metal can packaging business Oressa.

"A lot of the companies up for sale were firmly IPO

candidates until about a month ago," a loan banker said. "The

only reason they are coming back as potential buyouts is because

of the volatility. It is attractive for a seller to get rid of

100 percent of a business rather than listing, but it depends on

expectations and how much buyers are willing to pay."

Europe’s leveraged loan market has been crying out for

large-scale M&A, which is down significantly from last year with

only a handful of deals taking place so far in 2015, including

purchases of Saint-Gobain’s glass bottle unit Verallia

and German perfume and cosmetics retailer Douglas.

"No one knows when the IPO market will open," a second loan

banker said. "There are a lot of IPO financings being held at

bay until there is a bit more clarity on the situation and the

market."

Bankers are working on leveraged debt financings to back the

potential sales with about 4.5 billion euros required for a

buyout of Worldpay. Ardagh’s Oressa unit would require some 1.6

billion euros of debt, while bankers are working on deals of

around 1 billion euros each for Oberthur and Perstorp.

Bankers are also working on financings to back the potential

sales of other companies, including 650 million euros of debt

for French call centre business Webhelp, after UK private equity

firm Charterhouse mandated Deutsche Bank for a sale of its 60

percent stake.

UK petrol station operator Euro Garages and Airbus’s

defence unit could need up to 700 million pounds and 700 million euros of debt, respectively. Bankers

also lined up about 450 million euros of debt to back a buyout

of Dutch lingerie firm Hunkemoller, and although the process is

proving slow a sale or refinancing could still go ahead.

Other smaller potential financings out there include around

370 million pounds for a potential sale of British retailer

Tesco’s customer data business dunnhumby; 300 million

euros for German automotive parts maker Al-Ko; and 180 million

euros for Irish payments business Fintrax.

COMPETITIVE BID

Private equity buyers have become quite competitive compared

with corporate buyers, many of whom have suffered from the wider

volatility. With buyout firms cash-rich and needing to spend,

they could offer quite attractive propositions to win some of

the auction processes.

"With continued volatility there is a greater likelihood

that you end up hitting a bid on a sales process," a third

banker said. "Trade or publicly listed buyers have been hit as

the currency of their own equity has been affected by market

volatility.

"As their equity is less valuable they will be prepared to

pay less as comparable market valuations can’t justify as high a

price. That makes private equity bidders that have a lot of cash

to put to work all of a sudden far more valuable."

In September, 10 leveraged loans totalling 4.5 billion euros

are expected to be launched. Although pricing could widen

slightly to take into account the volatility, investor appetite

remains strong. [ID: nL5N1172NJ]

If private equity is successful during auction processes,

buyout loans could hit the market around November, which could

lead to a very busy and profitable fourth quarter. Depending on

how many deals hit the market, lenders hope renewed deal flow

will prompt more CLO issuance in order to keep the market

liquid.

"The loan market has proved it has more than enough capacity

to deal with a large number of deals coming at the same time,

even if some are large. Investors will be looking for healthier

deal flow, which will give confidence to the market and

confidence to raise more money," the third banker said.

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