Banks Holding Morrison Buyout Debt Consider Sterling Bond Dump
- Investors privately approached as lenders seek to pre-place
- De-risking could prove expensive as deep discounts touted
Customers browse a refrigerated aisle of food at a Morrisons supermarket in Saint Ives, U.K.
Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/BloombergThe lead banks backing the financing for the buyout of Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC are considering offloading a chunk of the debt package at a steep discount, reworking the deal to make it more palatable to investors ahead of a much-anticipated wider sell-down.
Lenders including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and BNP Paribas SA, are in talks with credit funds to pre-place 1.2 billion pounds ($1.5 billion) of senior secured sterling notes, according to people close to the matter who requested anonymity as the discussions are private. Private-equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice’s 6.6 billion pound acquisition of the grocer was the largest leveraged buyout of a British company in more than a decade.