Banks To Sell Down SAP's Sybase Loan On Tender Close -Sources

14th Jun 2010 13:13

By Carol Dean Of Dow Jones Newswires LONDON (Dow Jones)--Banks arranging German business software maker SAP AG's (SAP) EUR2.75 billion loan financing to back its $5.8 billion acquisition of software company Sybase Inc., are likely to sell down the debt in syndication after the tender offer closes in early July, people familiar with the situation said Monday. "Given the volatile nature of the (debt) markets (due to sovereign debt concerns), the loan will most likely be syndicated rather than refinanced in the bond market," one of the people said. In May, SAP offered to buy all outstanding shares of Sybase for $65 each with the tender offer scheduled to expire on July 1, unless otherwise extended. The loan has a maturity of two years and is priced at an initial margin of 65 basis points over Euribor, a second person said. Deutsche Bank and Barclays Capital are arranging the debt, as previously reported by Dow Jones Newswires. SAP's acquisition of fellow software maker Sybase Inc. for $5.8 billion will give the German giant key technology in its battle against rival Oracle Corp. in the business-software market. The deal will close in the third quarter and represents SAP's largest acquisition since its 2007 purchase of Business Objects SA for $6.8 billion. -By Carol Dean, Dow Jones Newswires; 44 20 7842 9306 [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 14, 2010 08:13 ET (12:13 GMT)