Xerox Corp. is selling a $500 million leveraged loan to help fund its repurchase of shares formerly held by Carl Icahn.
The new debt will replace a $550 million bridge loan Xerox took on to fund the stock buyback, which was completed last month, according to people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be named discussing a private deal. Xerox paid $542 million for the shares, capping the activist investor’s years-long involvement with the firm.
Xerox is offering a six-year term loan, with a quicker than typical repayment schedule: The company is offering to pay down 5% of the debt in its first two years, 7.5% in year three and 10% afterward, the people said. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. is leading the sale, and a call to discuss the deal will be held Tuesday, the people added.
Representatives for Xerox and Jefferies didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Creditors have viewed Xerox’s move with some skepticism. The cost to insure Xerox debt against default in the credit default swaps market for the next five years has jumped to around 528 basis points, from about 376 basis points at the end of September, according to ICE Data Services. The company initially agreed to pay Icahn $15.84 per share. Xerox shares closed Monday at $12.27.
The company’s bonds have also slumped. Xerox’s 5.5% senior unsecured note due 2028 has dropped around 9 points since late September to trade at 76.76 cents on the dollar, according to Trace. Its 5% bond due 2025 now changes hands for 91.75 cents on the dollar, down from about 95.5 cents a month earlier.
“Despite the removal of an activist investor and Xerox’s improving free cash flow, our cautious valuation view persists, as near-term funding subordinates legacy debt,” Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Credit Analyst Robert Schiffman wrote in a note on Monday.
Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Xerox’s unsecured bonds one step to Ba3 — three notches into junk — earlier this month, citing the company’s added secured debt. It also gave the company a negative outlook due to its “increase in financial leverage arising from the debt funded purchase of shares combined with deterioration in liquidity.”
S&P Global Ratings, meanwhile, bumped its outlook on the company to stable, from negative, citing improved profit margins and cash flow at the firm.
(Updates to share price.)
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