College textbook publisher Cengage Learning is seeking as much as $2 billion in loans to exit bankruptcy. Earlier in July 2013, the publisher had agreed with lenders to restructure $5.8 billion of debt.
According to a December 27 court filing, the financing would consist of a $250 million revolving line of credit and a term loan between $1.5 billion and $1.75 billion. A hearing will take place on January 9 at 11 a.m. New York time.
Cengage, which was seeking to eliminate more than $4 billion of its debt burden, is seeking the exit financing six months after it obtained Chapter 11 protection. Apax Partners LLP and Omers Capital Partners bought Stamford, Connecticut-based Cengage in 2007 from Thomson Reuters Corp. for $7.75 billion. The acquisition was partially funded with $5.6 billion in borrowings.
The arrangers of the proposed loan financing include Credit Suisse Group AG, Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, Morgan Stanley and KKR Capital Markets LLC, KKR & Co.'s financing arm, according to the court filing. If the debtors are unable to secure the loan financing, they will seek secured bonds.
A confirmation hearing is scheduled for February 24. The company is targeting a March 2014 exit date.
