Fairmount Santrol and Unimin received the regulatory approvals required to complete their merger. The combined company will be named Covia Holdings.
Jenniffer Deckard, president and CEO of Fairmount Santrol, who will serve as president and CEO of Covia upon close, said, “Covia will bring together the strengths of both companies to create an industry leader in mineral and material solutions for the energy and industrial markets. Covia will be strongly positioned to serve customers’ needs through our broad array of high-quality products, distinctive technical capabilities and the industry’s most comprehensive production and distribution network.”
The merger is expected to be partially financed with a seven-year $1.65 billion senior secured term loan and a five-year $200 million senior secured revolving credit facility. Barclays and BNP Paribas are leading the bank syndication. The term loan and revolving credit facility is expected to initially bear interest at a rate of LIBOR +3.75% and LIBOR +3.50%, respectively. The interest rate on both the term loan and revolving credit facility will be tied to an interest rate grid based on Covia’s leverage ratio. The term loan and revolving credit facility will close and fund in conjunction with the merger transaction.
Fairmount Santrol is a provider of high-performance sand and sand-based products used by oil and gas exploration and production companies to enhance the productivity of their wells.
Unimin is an application-focused minerals company providing materials solutions to its customers drawing from a diversified product portfolio and the worldwide production capabilities of Sibelco, its privately held parent organization.
