NEW YORK (Reuters) - Insight Communications Co, controlled by the Carlyle Group, should receive bids from first round in the next two weeks in its process of sales, said three sources familiar with the situation.
Cable operator ninth among the countries of the United States had hired Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and UBS AG in March to run the company sales process.
Pitch books are sent to a range of possible contenders, including cable companies and investment fund for testing how the market will assess the assets, a source said. The deadline is early to mid-May, said this source.
Funders, perspectives, what hope to get $ 3.5 billion to 4 billion, the eye of an opportunity to monetize their investment as the major cable companies look to strengthen small and medium-sized cable companies.
Private equity companies who were eager to build their portfolio of cable are expected to lead the call for tenders. Blackstone Group, BC Partners, CVC Capital Partners, Hellman & Friedman and KKR are widely expected to participate, a second source said.
"You have a level of interest now robust." Most every sponsor of significant size has signed non-disclosure agreements and is go take a look, "the second source said."
Cablevision Systems Corp. and Charter Communications Inc. cable companies should also consider a possible bid.
Time Warner Cable Inc., wavered on high prices and has decided not to participate, a person familiar with the talks said.
SuddenLink, also previously identified as a bidder, possible, is not involved in talks to buy Insight, according a person familiar with the discussions. Its parent company recently raised around $ 625 million in funding to help meet its acquisition of NPG cable debt and should need to reduce its debt before taking another important acquisition.
Bank of America and UBS provide staple financing, or interim financing package of loan to potential buyers in the range of the debt of 6.5 to 6.75 times the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), said two sources.
Lenders are leaving private equity buyers pay as little that 25 per cent equity to finance the operation, said a source. Which would bring the equity-debt divided return to levels unseen since the boom of the loan in 2006.
"One of the benefits for lenders is that really no one has lost money on cable, even through all the slowdown," a third source familiar with the situation said.
Based in Washington, D.C. Carlyle purchased Insight to 2.1 billion, including debt, in a loan December 2005 led management.
Last April, Insight announced a group of investors led by partners of Crestview and MidOcean Partners bought a significant stake in the company to existing shareholders, including Carlyle cable. Carlyle and the new group of investors each hold a stake of approximately 42 per cent in Insight.
Insight sells the cable television, Internet high speed and telephone services to its customers, serving approximately 750 000 in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio.
(Reported by Nadia Damouni and Yinka Adegoke, editing by Kenneth Li, Dave Zimmerman)
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