News on ETrade last night:
DJ Press Release: S&P Assigns NewPage $350M DIP Term Loans 'B' Ratings
Mar 03, 2016 16:20:00 (ET)
The following is a press release from Standard & Poor's:
-- U.S.-based Verso Paper Holdings LLC and subsidiary NewPage Corp. have
received bankruptcy court approval for their respective debtor-in-possession
(DIP) financing packages.
-- The DIP financing for NewPage includes a $350 million term loan
facility, consisting of a $175 million "new money" term loan and a $175
million roll-up of NewPage's prepetition (pre-bankruptcy) term loan, and a
$325 million asset-backed revolving facility (ABL). The Verso DIP financing
includes a $100 million ABL revolving facility.
-- We are assigning 'B' point-in-time ratings to both the roll-up and new
money loans that comprise the NewPage DIP term loan facility. We are not
assigning a rating to the other DIP facilities. The corporate credit rating on
Verso Paper Holdings LLC remains 'D'.
NEW YORK (Standard & Poor's) March 3, 2016--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services
said today it assigned its 'B' point-in-time rating to both the new money and
roll-up loans that comprise the $350 million DIP term loan facility issued by
NewPage Corp., a subsidiary of Verso Paper Holdings LLC. The corporate credit
rating on Verso Paper Holdings LLC remains 'D'.
The ratings on NewPage's $350 million DIP term loan facility are point-in-time
ratings effective only for the date of this report. We will not review,
modify, or provide ongoing surveillance of the ratings.
"Our ratings assume that no portion of the roll-up loans will be unwound by
the bankruptcy court in connection with any proceeding challenging the
validity, enforceability, extent, perfection, or priority of the liens
securing NewPage's pre-petition term loan," said Standard & Poor's credit
analyst Christopher Andrews.
On Jan. 26, 2016, Verso Corp. and its subsidiaries voluntarily filed petitions
to reorganize under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. On Jan. 27, the
court gave interim approvals for the Verso DIP ABL and NewPage DIP facilities.
On March 2, the bankruptcy court approved final orders for the DIP facilities
and authorized NewPage to obtain the full amount available under the DIP term
loan and ABL facilities.
The DIP facilities preserve the "stand-alone" capital structures that existed
before bankruptcy. None of the NewPage operating subsidiaries guarantee or
pledge their assets to secure the Verso ABL facility, so it is structurally
subordinated to the DIP facilities at NewPage. Similarly, the NewPage DIP
facilities have no recourse to any non-NewPage entities in the enterprise.
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