Charlotte, NC - First Union Capital Markets has completed the high yield financing of $115 million of senior unsecured notes and a $75 million syndicated bank loan for Fresh Foods Inc., allowing the Claremont, NC - based food processor and restaurant operator to purchase a major food producer.
First Union Capital Markets acted as lead manager on the high yield financing that provided the capital for Fresh Foods' acquisition of Pierre, a division of Tyson Foods, a leading manufacturer of fully-cooked meat products and pre-packaged microwaveable sandwiches. Fresh Foods also is the owner of restaurants that operate under the names of Sagebrush, Western Steer, Prime Sirloin and Bennett's, located primarily in the southeastern United States.
“We get a great deal of satisfaction out of First Union Capital Markets' ability to arrange this financing solution for Fresh Foods that enables it to grow and help meet its acquisition objectives,” said Jay Braden, managing director, high yield origination, First Union Capital Markets Group.
“First Union Capital Markets really impressed us in arranging this total financing package, especially in light of the recent volatility in the high yield market,” said David Clark, president and chief operating officer of Fresh Foods Inc.
The transaction is a perfect example of First Union's ability to provide one-stop banking according to Bert Corum, senior director, corporate finance, First Union Capital Markets. Corum, John Swift, local relationship manager at First Union National Bank in Hickory, N.C., as well as participants from First Union Capital Markets high yield, leveraged finance and syndication areas all worked together on behalf of Fresh Foods.
First Union Capital Markets continues to show strong growth in its high yield business. In 1997, it underwrote $2.7 billion in high yield bond offerings compared to $1 billion in 1996. Through the first week in June, First Union's high yield underwritings totaled $1.2 billion -- up from $900 million for the same period in 1997.
First Union has grown its capital markets business substantially over the past four and a half years. First Union's Capital Markets Group reported 1997 fee income of $802 million up from $509 million in 1996 and $265 million in 1995. Fee income through the first quarter of 1998 rose to $255 million, $95 million more than for the same period in 1997.
First Union Capital Markets is a division of Wheat First Securities, Inc., a separate, broker-dealer, non-bank affiliate of First Union Corp. Wheat First Securities, Inc., a member of the New York Stock Exchange, Inc. and the Securities Investor Protection Corp., provides a full range of investment banking products and services including asset-backed finance, public finance, syndicated loans, merger and acquisition advisory, private finance, equity underwriting and investment grade and high-yield debt finance.
Charlotte-based First Union Corp. is the nation's sixth-largest bank holding company with assets of about $220 billion. The company serves approximately 16 million customers throughout the East Coast and nation.
The senior, unsecured notes have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the US absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements. All of the notes have been sold and this release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of any offer to buy any of the notes.
Meat Industry Insights News Service
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