Banks kick off US$2.55-billion loan deal for Nuvei buyout
A group of underwriters led by Bank of Montreal launched a US$2.55 billion loan Monday to back the acquisition of Nuvei Corp., marking the biggest buyout deal since April.
The seven-year term loan will help fund the US$6.3 billion leveraged buyout of the Canadian payments processor by Advent International, management, Novacap and CDPQ, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Price talk for the deal is 300 to 325 basis points over the Secured Overnight Financing Rate and offered at a slight discount of 99.75 cents on the dollar, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing a private transaction. Commitments are due July 19.
Bank of Montreal, Novacap, CDPQ and Nuvei didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday. Advent declined to comment.
The financing is the latest to buck a dearth of new issues in the leveraged loan market, which has been dominated by repricings and refinancings. With only a few months until the U.S. presidential election and the expectation of U.S. Federal Reserve rate cuts looming, bankers expect lenders to shift gears to work on M&A proposals.
The proposed Nuvei loan would be the biggest such deal since the US$2.6 billion loan sold in April to fund KKR’s purchase of a Broadcom unit. The largest deal of the year was a US$5 billion package sold in February to finance the acquisition of Cotiviti.
Backed by Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds, Nuvei provides a variety of payment processing services. It counts with brands like Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd., fashion retailer Shein Group Ltd. and sports betting firm DraftKings Inc. as customers, according to Nuvei’s website.
Founder and chief executive Philip Fayer will retain a significant stake in Nuvei following the acquisition,
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