Rural US telco Frontier Communications has launched a US$1.55bn dual-tranche offering of senior notes to help fund its US$2bn acquisition of AT&T’s fixed-line business in its home state of Connecticut.
Frontier is issuing US$775m senior notes due 2021…
Rural US telco Frontier Communications has launched a US$1.55bn dual-tranche offering of senior notes to help fund its US$2bn acquisition of AT&T’s fixed-line business in its home state of Connecticut.
Frontier is issuing US$775m senior notes due 2021 and US$775m senior notes due 2024.
JP Morgan, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and RBS are joint bookrunners on the offering.
Frontier will deposit the proceeds into an escrow account until it can complete the AT&T transaction. If the acquisition is terminated or otherwise not consummated by August 2015, Frontier will be obliged to redeem the notes at par plus accrued interest.
Last week Connecticut’s utilities regulator rejected a settlement reached between local officials and Frontier to gain state approval of the transaction. The utilities regulator wants Frontier’s settlement to offer more benefits for state regulators.
The deal already has the approval of federal telecoms regulator the FCC. Frontier still expects the deal to close before the end of the year.
In June Frontier signed two new debt facilities totalling US$1.1bn, which will also help to part-finance the AT&T deal.
Connecticut-based Frontier specialises in offering bundled triple-play services to both residential and business customers in rural areas. The company has around four million customers across 27 US states at present and provides satellite DTH services via Dish Network and DirecTV.
