Garda World Security launches $700M term loan for M&A; commitments due Feb. 10

Garda World Security Corp. is returning to market with a $700 million term loan B to finance an acquisition, according to sources. A lender call is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. ET on Feb. 3 and commitments to the J.P. Morgan-led deal will be due at 5 p.m. ET on Feb. 10.

Price talk for the seven-year nonfungible first-lien term loan is 400 basis points over the secured overnight financing rate, with a 0% floor and an original issue discount of 99.5. There is no credit spread adjustment. Lenders are offered six months of 101 soft call protection.

Proceeds from the deal will be used to finance the company's acquisition of Tidel Engineering, L.P. from Littlejohn & Co.

Thus far, the new term loan has been assigned issue-level ratings of B/BB+ from S&P Global Ratings and Fitch with recovery ratings of 3 and 1, respectively. The existing facility rating from Moody's is B1. Current corporate ratings are B/B3/B+.

Garda World Security is an integrated security and cash services company.

Garda was last in the market in November 2021 with a $350 million add-on to its existing covenant-lite TLB due October 2026 (L+425, 0% Libor floor) that brought the total tranche size at the time to $1.438 billion.

Montreal-based Garda World Security, backed by BC Partners, is a global provider of security services, cash logistics and risk consulting services.