Banks line up financing for buyout of UK's Callcredit
By Claire Ruckin
LONDON (Reuters) - A debt financing totalling around 235 million pounds will back UK credit reference business Callcredit Information Group's acquisition by US private equity firm GTRC and management, banking sources said on Monday.
Vitruvian bought Callcredit in 2009 and put the business up for sale last year, hiring Jefferies to run a competitive auction process.
GTRC and Callcredit's management announced their acquisition of the business on Monday for an undisclosed sum, although a source said it sold for above 480 million pounds.
The deal, which will be funded with equity and leveraged loans, attracted a number of banks and funds eager to find somewhere to put their cash to work following a lack of M&A activity last year.
GE, HSBC and Lloyds Banking have provided senior leveraged loans to back the buyout, which will be launched for syndication to be sold to other banks and institutional investors in the next couple of weeks, the sources said.
In addition, Crescent Capital will provide a mezzanine loan, the sources added.
The financing totals around 6.5 to seven times Callcredit's core earnings of around 35 million pounds, the sources said.
Callcredit was established 14 years ago. It now employs around 1,000 professionals in the UK and has operations in Japan, China, Dubai and Lithuania.
(Editing by Greg Mahlich)
