Telecom Italia (TI) has launched a US$1.5bn 10-year bond in its return to US debt capital markets after a five-year absence.
The senior fixed-rate notes priced at par, carry a coupon of 5.303% and mature on 30 May 2024, the Italian incumbent said in a…
Telecom Italia (TI) has launched a US$1.5bn 10-year bond in its return to US debt capital markets after a five-year absence.
The senior fixed-rate notes priced at par, carry a coupon of 5.303% and mature on 30 May 2024, the Italian incumbent said in a statement.
The actual yield-to-maturity of 5.303% equals a yield of 275bps over the corresponding US Treasury bond.
The Milan-based telco said the US dollar bond, offered to institutional investors, allowed for better terms than an issue of the same maturity in the euro market. The company noted that the new offering lengthens its average debt maturity and further diversifies its investor base.
Proceeds are to be used for general corporate purposes, which may include the refinancing of maturing debt.
The notes are set to be listed on the Irish Stock Exchange.
TI last tapped bond markets in January, when it issued a €1bn (US$1.36bn) seven-year eurobond.
TI’s net financial debt at the end of Q1 2014 stood at €28.81bn (US$39.25bn), up from €27.94bn (US$38.06bn) at the end of 2013.
Generali and Mediobanca to sell stakes by June
Meanwhile, the chairman of Italian insurer Assicurazioni Generali, Gabriele Galateri, was quoted at an event in Milan today as saying the company plans to sell its indirect stake in TI by June.
Generali CEO Mario Greco previously explained during a March conference call that the company had two potential exit windows for its 19.3% stake in Telco, the holding company that is TI’s largest shareholder with a 22.4% stake: June 2014 and February 2015.
Fellow Telco shareholder, Italian investment bank Mediobanca, is also planning to sell shares that month, Bloomberg cited a person with knowledge of the matter as saying.
Intesa Sanpaolo, another Telco shareholder, also said previously that it intends to sell its stake in the holding.
Carlo Alberto Carnevale Maffe, a professor of business strategy at Bocconi University in Milan, told Bloomberg in March that Generali is likely to sell its stake either on the market or directly to another investor.
Spanish incumbent Telefonica is Telco’s largest shareholder but regulatory hurdles could stand in the way of it acquiring Generali’s stake. Telefonica has declined to comment on the matter.
