LONDON (Reuters) - CVC-owned UK software services provider Wireless Logic has conducted a £115m refinancing, it was announced on Tuesday, through a syndicated direct lending deal.
It is one of the first stretched senior loans completed by direct lenders to be syndicated to a group of banks and funds.
“It is part of a small but growing trend,” a senior banker said.
Stretched senior loans sit between senior loans and racier, more expensive unitranche loans.
The loan was underwritten by SMBC as sole bookrunner and anchor investor, Park Square Capital and SMBC JV Loan Fund. Ares, CVC Credit and HSBC joined as arrangers.
This is the third deal in the Park Square Capital and SMBC joint venture since it launched in mid-2017 to provide unitranche loans to European mid-market companies. At the time, Thomson Reuters LPC reported it was targeting a size of €3bn.
The joint venture reunited two former GE colleagues, Howard Sharp, Park Square’s head of mid-market direct lending and Owen Verrier-Jones, SMBC’s head of sponsor coverage and origination, who both joined their respective firms from GE Capital in 2015.
CVC acquired Wireless Logic from ECI Partners in 2015, backed with a £75m financing provided by Ares Management and GE Capital, split between a £65m unitranche facility and a £10m working capital and acquisition facility.
Wireless Logic is a leading European machine to machine and internet of things managed services platform provider.
(Editing by Christopher Mangham)
