Banks vie for Morrisons financing

摘要

A further eight banks have signed up to a £6.6bn loan backing US sponsor Clayton Dubilier & Rice's offer for British supermarket group MORRISONS, bringing the total number of lenders to 12, while two banks back SoftBank-owned Fortress' rival bid, yet all 14 lenders are expected to vie for a place on the acquisition financing, irrespective of who wins. Bank of America, BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs and Mizuho have now been joined by Rabobank, NatWest, Deutsche Bank, Mesa Sanpaolo, MUFG, Santander, Societe Generale and SMBC as additional lead arrangers and underwriters on the financing backing CD&R's current bid of £7bn. The four leads will underwrite 12.5% each having managed to pass on the remaining 50%, with Rabobank committing to 9.6%, NatWest 8% and the rest taking 5.4% each.