Private-equity sponsor Hellman and Friedman LLC announced it would acquire the U.S. higher education enterprise resource planning (ERP) software business unit of SunGard Inc. for approximately $1.8 billion and combine it with Hellman's own education institution-focused ERP software business Datatel Inc. to form Sophia L.P. The combined entity will have about $1.7 billion in credit facilities, comprising a $125 million revolver facility, a $1.07 billion term loan, and a $530 million senior unsecured bridge facility. We are assigning our preliminary 'B' corporate credit rating to the combined company, as well as our preliminary 'B+' issue-level rating to its first-lien debt and preliminary 'CCC+' issue-level rating to its unsecured notes. The stable rating outlook primarily reflects the combined entity's improved business
