Do Buyers Believe in Bain?

Bain Capital this morning announced that it will buy Bright Horizons Family Solutions for $48.25 per share. It also took pains to emphasize that Goldman Sachs had committed debt financing, and that Bain can’t bail due to leverage-related difficulties.

But don’t quite begin rooftop yawping about a return to Merger Mondays. The public markets have reacted with cautious optimism to the news — bumping the stock up $11.25 per share as of 12:30pm, but still $4 shy of the sale price. It’s as if buyers want to believe Bain can pull it off, but still can’t ignore the burn marks covering their bodies.

What will be most interesting, of course, as the debt terms that Goldman provided. Are they the old-school, covenant-laden ones that Bain recently accepted for 3Com, or did Goldman sweeten the pot a bit to help Bright Horizons, which also happens to be its M&A client?

You can read the press release here.