More banks join LSE bridge loan for Refinitiv buy

By Michelle Sierra NEW YORK, Sept 17 (LPC) - The full list of lenders to the multibillion dollar bridge loan backing the London Stock Exchange Group’s acquisition of data company Refinitiv has been revealed after banks received their allocations. The allocations total US$13.3bn and a further 14 banks have joined the deal in addition to the three leads. Barclays, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are the underwriters of the deal, which was launched to syndication in early August. The acquisition, which will be financed with newly issued shares, will replace Refinitiv’s existing leveraged debt with a corporate financing, reflecting LSE’s investment-grade credit rating. The loan refinances US$13.5bn of leveraged loans and bonds that backed the US$20bn purchase of a majority stake in Refinitiv last October by a consortium led by US private equity firm Blackstone. The bridge loan is intended to be taken out entirely by bonds, but not until the fourth quarter of 2020, or the first-quarter of 2021. Timing of the bond issuance will be determined by the close of the acquisition. Hong Kong Stock Exchange has bid US$39bn for LSE, which rejected the bid on September 13. Refinitiv, the parent company of LPC, was created last year when a Blackstone-led consortium bought a 55% stake in Thomson Reuters' Financial & Risk business in the largest leveraged buyout since the financial crisis. Thomson Reuters owns the remaining 45% stake. Allocations are as follows: Lender Commitments Facility A Facility B (EUR) (USD) Barclays Bank 548,529,411.77 210,588,235.30 Goldman Sachs Intl 36,568,627.45 14,039,215.69 Goldman Sachs LP 511,960,784.32 196,549,019.61 Morgan Stanley Bank 548,529,411.77 0 Morgan Stanley SF 0 210,588,235.30 Banca IMI, London 548,529,411.77 210,588,235.30 Banco Santander, London 548,529,411.77 210,588,235.30 Bank of America, London 548,529,411.77 210,588,235.30 Bank of China, London 548,529,411.77 210,588,235.30 BNP Paribas Fortis 548,529,411.77 210,588,235.29 Citibank, London 548,529,411.76 210,588,235.29 HSBC Bank 548,529,411.76 210,588,235.29 Lloyds Bank 548,529,411.76 210,588,235.29 MUFG Bank 548,529,411.76 210,588,235.29 National Westminster Bank 548,529,411.76 210,588,235.29 Royal Bank of Canada 548,529,411.76 210,588,235.29 SMBC London 548,529,411.76 210,588,235.29 Toronto-Dominion, London 548,529,411.76 210,588,235.29 Wells Fargo Bank, London 548,529,411.76 210,588,235.29 Total 9,325,000,000 3,580,000,000 LSE’s last corporate loan was provided by Banco Santander, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Barclays Bank, HSBC, Royal Bank of Canada and Royal Bank of Scotland, according to LPC data. (Editing by Tessa Walsh)