BofA Merrill goes solo on giant bridge

摘要

US medical device maker medtronic is raising a US$16.3bn senior unsecured bridge loan to finance its US$42.9bn acquisition of Dublin-based Covidien. The deal has been underwritten by sole initial bookrunner Bank of America Merrill Lynch, making it one of the bank's biggest loan underwriting commitments ever. The commitment is bigger than BofA Merrill's US$15.25bn share of the US$61bn bridge loan that backed Verizon's acquisition of Verizon Wireless last September, which was underwritten by four banks. BofA Merrill was also the sole underwriter of a US$4bn loan for Swiss engineering group ABB's acquisition of US electronics firm Thomas & Betts in March 2012.