(Adds detail)
LONDON, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Iceland Foods chief executive Malcolm Walker is raising 885 million pounds ($1.4 billion) in loans from five banks to back his management buyout of the British frozen food group, banking sources said on Tuesday.
Credit Suisse (NYSEArca: CSMA - news) , Deutsche bank (Xetra: 514000 - news) , HSBC (LSE: HSBA.L - news) , Nomura and Royal Bank of Scotland will provide the all-senior secured debt package, the bankers said.
Walker -- who founded the company in 1970 -- owns 23 percent of Iceland Foods along with other managers, and last week entered six weeks of exclusive talks to buy the remaining 77 percent from failed Icelandic banks Landsbanki and Glitnir. The deal values the retailer at 1.55 billion pounds.
The debt will be split into two term loans and a revolving credit facility. A portion of the term loan will be denominated in euros as banks seek to sell the debt to institutional loan investors who prefer buying debt in euros.
The debt package is around 3.5 times earnings at Iceland Foods, the bankers said.
Walker could not be reached for comment. ($1 = 0.6301 pound) (Reporting by Isabell Witt; Editing by Dan Lalor)
There are no comments yet