Guess?, Inc. announced this morning that it closed its $75 million securitization (see ASR 1/27). The 6.75% notes are backed by 12 domestic and two international license agreements. The deal, called Guess? Royalty Finance, was rated Baa2’ and BBB’ by Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s, respectively.
The company will use the proceeds to pay down existing its existing 9.5% senior unsecured debt. JPMorgan Securities led the transaction. Guess previously announced an $85 million credit facility with Wachovia Securities that it established in September of 2002. Under the initial terms of the facility, Guess was to have extinguished its senior debt by the end of February, but received a waiver through April 30.
“The process of marketing and completing the securitization has taken longer than originally expected due to the technical nature of the transaction,” the company stated in its year-end earnings dated Feb. 26.
