Gazprom Postpones Sale of Bonds, Fitch Withdraws Credit Ratings on Debt

(Bloomberg) -- OAO Gazprom, Russia's natural-gas
monopoly, postponed a planned sale of bonds prompting Fitch
Ratings to withdraw assigned grades for the debt.

More than 50 companies from U.S. carmaker Chrysler to
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.'s Alliance Boots Plc postponed or
reworked debt sales since mid-June as investors shun riskier
assets amid concern that U.S. subprime mortgage-related losses
will spill into other parts of the debt markets.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Bank ratings intact despite LBO funding jam -S&P

(Reuters) - Turmoil in the global credit markets has left banks unable
to syndicate funding for a string of high-profile leveraged
buyouts, including those of British health and beauty chain
Alliance Boots [AB.UL] and U.S. carmaker Chrysler.




The funding, often with aggressive terms, was committed to
when the credit-market sky was clear and investors seemed to
have an unquenchable thirst for debt.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

RLPC-UPDATE 1-Boots delays 5 bln stg senior debt amid turmoil

(Reuters) - LONDON, July 25 - Alliance Boots [AB.UL] has
postponed syndication of the 5.05 billion pounds
of senior debt backing its leveraged buyout, Europe's largest
ever, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters Loan
Pricing Corp. on Wednesday.




The company, which is being bought by Kohlberg Kravis
Roberts & Co [KKR.UL] and deputy chairman Stefano Pessina for
11.1 billion pounds, is pressing ahead with the syndication of
1.75 billion pounds of second-lien and mezzanine debt at steep
discounts, with responses on these tranches due by Friday, the
source said.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

KKR Accepts Borrowing Limits in Record $22 Billion Alliance Boots Buyout

(Bloomberg) -- Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. will
accept borrowing limits imposed by lenders funding its 11.1
billion-pound ($22 billion) purchase of Alliance Boots Plc, as
investors shun risky assets, bankers arranging the deal said.

KKR is meeting with investors today to raise 9.02 billion
pounds in loans for Nottingham-based Boots, the biggest U.K.
drugstore chain. The loans will include limits on the amount of
debt the company can have relative to its cashflow, through so-
called maintenance covenants, said the bankers, who declined to
be named because the terms aren't public.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News