US towerco Crown Castle has increased its latest note offering from US$500m to US$850m due to investor demand.
The Texan company priced the eight-year 4.875% notes at 99.5 to yield 4.951%.
Crown Castle plans to use the proceeds to buy back and retire…
US towerco Crown Castle has increased its latest note offering from US$500m to US$850m due to investor demand.
The Texan company priced the eight-year 4.875% notes at 99.5 to yield 4.951%.
Crown Castle plans to use the proceeds to buy back and retire its US$500m of outstanding 7.125% senior notes due 2019.
Fitch rated the new notes BB- and said it expected the tower operator to deleverage further this year, through a mix of cash flow growth and debt reduction.
Crown Castle last raised debt in January when it secured US$700m in incremental term loans, divided between a US$500m tranche maturing in January 2021 and a US$200m tranche due November 2018.
Crown Castle has US$11.4bn total debt and the 2019 notes are its bonds which are closest to maturity. The towerco has a revolver and term loans totalling US$1bn due in 2018.
Barclays, Credit Agricole, BofA Merrill Lynch, TD Securities, RBC Capital Markets, RBS, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Mitsubishi UFJ and Citigroup are the joint book-running managers on the issue.
Last December Crown Castle closed its US$4.83bn acquisition of 9,700 towers from AT&T. This increased its US footprint to 40,000 sites. Fitch said that Crown Castle’s focus on the US market, rather than expanding into emerging markets like its rivals, would help to keep its rating stable.
