US-based NII Holdings has issued a US$700m high-yield bond maturing 2019.
The senior unsecured notes priced at par and have an interest rate of 7.785%.
The telco, which operates as Nextel, upsized the offering from US$500m. It plans to use the proceeds…
US-based NII Holdings has issued a US$700m high-yield bond maturing 2019.
The senior unsecured notes priced at par and have an interest rate of 7.785%.
The telco, which operates as Nextel, upsized the offering from US$500m. It plans to use the proceeds to repay its Mexican bank loan and part of one of its Brazilian bank loans. Remaining proceeds will be used to repay other loans in Brazil which NII describes as “immaterial in amount”.
Yesterday ratings agency Moody’s downgraded NII from B2 to B3. “The downgrade reflects the company’s heightened leverage, declining operating performance, and the high execution risk related to the company’s ongoing 3G network investment cycle,” it said in a memo. “Increasing price competition and depreciating local currencies are exacerbating NII’s challenges.”
It rated the new notes at B2.
The LatAm specialist last sold notes in April raising US$150m by re-tapping a high-yield series first issued in February. It has raised a total of US$900m on those terms this year.
This month NII gave interim CEO Steve Shindler the job on a fulltime basis.
The company is in the middle of reorienting itself to focus on its core markets of Brazil and Mexico. It has agreed to sell its Nextel Peru business to Entel and its Chilean and Argentine units are also up for sale. The operator is also close to selling its Brazilian and Mexican towers and plans to then lease them back.
