AgroPages-Banks line up debt for Cheminova sale-Agricultural news

Banks line up debt for Cheminova sale

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Auriga Industries said it was in talks with several parties over a sale transaction, following reports of bankers working on debt financing of up to 720 million euros (962.86 million US dollar) for the sale of its crop protection unit, Cheminova.

Auriga hired JP Morgan to consider options for the company including a possible sale of Cheminova, which has attracted a number of bidders eager to do deals and put cash to work, the banking sources said.

Private equity firms Bain, CVC and EQT and Israel-based peer crop protection company Adama Agricultural Solutions are expected to submit second round bids in an auction process at the end of August after a large number of initial bids were received in July, the banking sources said.

Auriga, Cheminova, Adama, Bain and EQT declined to comment. CVC was not immediately available to comment .

Bankers are working on debt financings of around 600-720 million euros or 5-6 times Cheminova’s Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) of approximately 120 million euros, the bankers said.

Debt is likely to be a mix of senior and junior leveraged loans denominated in euros and dollars and high yield bonds could also be considered, they added.