The US’ fourth-largest cableco Charter Communications has issued US$3.5bn in senior secured term loan to finance the acquisition of 1.5 million Time Warner Cable (TWC) subscribers.
The seven-year facility was priced at 350 bps over Libor, with a 75…
The US’ fourth-largest cableco Charter Communications has issued US$3.5bn in senior secured term loan to finance the acquisition of 1.5 million Time Warner Cable (TWC) subscribers.
The seven-year facility was priced at 350 bps over Libor, with a 75 bps Libor floor, and was issued with a 0.5% discount, it said in a statement.
Earlier this year, Charter agreed to buy subscribers being divested by larger rivals Comcast and TWC to help secure regulatory approvals for their planned US$40bn-plus merger.
Under the plan, Charter will acquire 1.5 million TWC customers for an undisclosed sum once the merger with Comcast has closed, taking its subscriber base to 5.7 million and making it the US’ second-largest cable operator.
Charter, whose controlling shareholder is John Malone’s Liberty Media, has also agreed to contribute users to a new operator, GreatLand Connections, set to be hived off from Comcast.
Charter said in a statement on Friday that the US$3.5bn loan forms part of US$8.4bn worth of loan commitments it entered into earlier this year.
Proceeds will remain in escrow at its CCO Safari subsidiary until the transactions with Comcast close.
Goldman Sachs Bank, BofA Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank acted as joint lead bookrunners and joint lead arrangers for the new facility.
