Lonza Group AG, the world’s biggest maker of drug ingredients, plans to finance its purchase of Norwalk-based Arch Chemicals Inc. with up to $1.55 billion in term loans, Bloomberg News reports.
JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Credit Suisse Group AG are arranging the loans that charge 0.25 percentage point to 2.15 percentage points more than the London interbank offered rate, according to a July 15 regulatory filing.
The margin over Libor will depend on Basel, Switzerland-based Lonza’s debt level relative to Ebitda, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and appreciation.
Lonza has agreed to buy Arch Chemicals, a maker of products that kill bacteria and fungi, for $1.2 billion.
The banks will also supply Lonza with a 700 million Swiss Francs ($854.5 million) revolving credit line, the regulatory filing shows.
Meantime, a federal judge has frozen assets of three Swiss-based investment firms accused of profiting from trades based on inside information of a planned acquisition involving Norwalk-based Arch Chemicals Inc. The Associated Press reports.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has accused the companies of making millions of dollars in trades on confidential information that Lonza Group planned to acquire Arch for $1.2 billion. The trades were allegedly made ahead of the July 11 announcement of the acquisition.
The SEC said Monday that a judge had issued an order blocking Compania International Financiera SA, Coudree Capital Gestion SA and Chartwell Asset Management Services from access to funds. The judge also required that the money from the trades be returned to the United States.
