Paris-based vendor Alcatel-Lucent has secured €1.615bn in financing underwritten by Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs.
The senior secured credit facilities will be denominated in US dollars and euros, and have maturities of between three-and-a-half and…
Paris-based vendor Alcatel-Lucent has secured €1.615bn in financing underwritten by Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs.
The senior secured credit facilities will be denominated in US dollars and euros, and have maturities of between three-and-a-half and six years.
The company said the facilities will likely be secured against its intellectual property portfolio.
Alcatel’s share price rose more than 11% overnight on the back of the news, from US$0.85 to US$0.95.
Commenting on the agreement CEO Ben Verwaayen said: “The proceeds from the new financing will be used to effectively extend our maturity profile over the next several years and provide additional flexibility to finalise our previously announced performance programme priorities, including the €1.25bn cost reduction target and the exiting or restructuring of unprofitable managed services contracts and geographic markets.”
Last week Moody’s downgraded the company to B3, saying it did not think Alcatel would be able to arrest its cash burn.
Alcatel reported revenues of €3.56bn for Q3, down 2.8% year-on-year. The company is currently executing a €1.25bn restructuring programme which it said had saved it €450m by the end of Q3.
Commenting on the Q3 results, Verwaayen said the company was aiming for a positive net cash situation at year-end.
“We are taking action to strengthen our balance sheet and we are reviewing a variety of options, which we will communicate when appropriate,” he said.
The syndication is expected to close in January 2013.
