Dolan plans $9.55 billion credit facilities, $2.81 billion bonds for proposed Cablevision buyout

By Sara Rosenberg

New York, Oct. 10 - Dolan Family Group plans to use $9.55 billion in new credit facilities and $2.81 billion in high-yield bonds to back its proposed buyout of Cablevision Systems Corp., according to an SC 13D/A filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday.

The credit facilities will be borrowed at three entities. CSC Holdings, Inc. will get a $7.75 billion senior secured, consisting of a $1 billion six-year term loan A, a $5.75 billion seven-year term loan B and a $1 billion revolver. Rainbow National Services LLC will get a $1.1 billion senior secured credit facility, consisting of an $800 million seven-year term loan B and a $300 million revolver. And, Regional Programming Partners will get a $700 million senior secured credit facility, consisting of a $500 million five-year term loan B, a $150 million five-year delayed-draw term loan B and a $50 million revolver.

The bonds will be issued at three entities as well - Super Holdco will sell $1.13 billion of unsecured senior fixed- and floating-rate notes that mature at least 10 years out. Intermediate Holdco will sell $900 million unsecured senior fixed- and floating-rate notes that mature at least eight years out. And, Rainbow Programming Holdings LLC will sell $780 million unsecured senior fixed- and floating-rate notes that mature at least eight years out.

Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns are joint lead arrangers and joint bookrunners on the credit facilities, the filing said.

Furthermore, all of the bond offerings are backed by commitments for bridge loans from Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns.

Under the proposed transaction, Cablevision stockholders would receive $27.00 per share in cash. The proposal values the total equity of Cablevision at $7.9 billion and implies an enterprise value of $19.2 billion.

The Dolan Family said it would also finance the transaction by investing all of its shares in the company, which would have a value of $1.7 billion.

In response to the proposal, Cablevision said that its board appointed a special transaction committee to evaluate and act on the transaction.

"The special transaction committee intends to proceed in a deliberate and timely manner. There can be no assurance that any agreement on financial and other terms satisfactory to the special transaction committee will result from the committee's evaluation or negotiation of the proposal or that any corporate transaction recommended by the special transaction committee will be completed," the Cablevision press release added.

Cablevision is a Bethpage, N.Y., media, entertainment and telecommunications company.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.