Bergen Brunswig Gets $1.5-Billion Credit Line

Bergen Brunswig Corp., a drug wholesaler whose credit rating has been cut three times since April, said Chase Manhattan Bank will underwrite and arrange $1.5 billion in new senior secured credit facilities. The new loan would replace Bergen’s two existing revolving credit lines--a $600-million, 364-day facility due April and a $400-million facility due March 2001--and expand its borrowing capacity by $500 million. Shares of Orange-based Bergen, the third-largest U.S. drug wholesaler, have fallen 80% in the last year as performance lagged at newly acquired specialty-drug distributor Stadtlander and nursing-home-pharmacy operator PharMerica. Shares rose 19 cents to close at $5.13 on the NYSE.