Moody's Says SoftLayer Buyout Was Valued at $500 Million
Private equity firms are notorious for shrouding their acquisitions in secrecy, regularly refusing to disclose purchase prices. But credit rating agencies sometimes are more forthcoming. Earlier this month, GI Partners sponsored a management buyout of Softlayer Technologies, a Dallas-based provider of on-demand data center services. No other information, except why GI felt it made a sparkling addition to its portfolio. Yesterday, however, Moody's Investors Service reported that GI and other "private equity investors" acquired more than 70% of SoftLayer at a $500 million enterprise value. Company management will hold the remainder. The buyers also increased the amount of equity they are investing to $250 million, up from the initial $195 million. The deal for Softlayer also reduces a term loan from $190 million to $150 million and eliminates both a $20 million revolving credit loan and a $20 million delayed draw term loan.
