An $850 million buyout loan for Chinese online games company Giant Interactive was launched into general syndication on Wednesday. The five-year loan is underwritten by seven banks -- China Minsheng Banking, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, ICBC International and JP Morgan -- which have invited other banks to participate.
There are three tickets. For a mandated lead arranger title, banks have to commit $50 million or above and the all-in pricing, including fees and margin, is Libor plus 529bp. Lead arrangers have to commit between $35 million and $49 million for an all-in pricing of Libor plus 514bp and arrangers have to commit between $20 million and $34 million for an all-in pricing of Libor plus 500bp. The loan has an average life of 3.5 years.
The loan is expected to close syndication at the end of May and will be used to finance a take-private offer for New York-listed Giant Interactive.
The company is being taken private by a consortium group, which includes Giant Interactive chairman Yuzhu Shi, Baring Private Equity Asia and Hony Capital. Collectively, they own 49.3% of Giant Interactive shares and have offered to take Giant Internative private for $3 billion.
