We could be days, or even hours, away from an announcement that the bank syndicate behind U.K. druggist Alliance Boots plc's £9 billion ($18 billion) hung leveraged loan has at last managed to offload some of its debt.
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The eight banks, Deutsche Bank AG, Citigroup Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co., Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Barclays Bank plc, UniCredit SpA and Bank of America Corp., aren't commenting. But sources close to the action say that it is likely that private equity firms will very soon step in and buy around half of the £5 billion of senior debt.
Reports say those in the frame include Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., which backed the $22 billion buyout, Europe's biggest, in July 2007, Apollo Management Inc. and Blackstone Group LP.
Not all of the syndicate members are comfortable with the proposed price of 91% of face value, and so there is speculation that Barclays and UniCredit will hold on to their share of the debt, while J.P. Morgan will only sell part of its debt. - Neil Sen
For more details, see story from The Deal newsweekly
See story from the Financial Times
