French vendor Alcatel-Lucent has priced US$750m of 6.75% notes at par through its American subsidiary Alcatel-Lucent USA.
The offering is part of a wider US$2.7bn financing programme combining debt and equity, announced at the start of the week, as CEO…
French vendor Alcatel-Lucent has priced US$750m of 6.75% notes at par through its American subsidiary Alcatel-Lucent USA.
The offering is part of a wider US$2.7bn financing programme combining debt and equity, announced at the start of the week, as CEO Michel Combes tries to turn around the loss-making company.
Part of the proceeds, expected to be around US$543m, will be used to prepay Alcatel-Lucent’s €274m (US$368m) of 6.375% notes maturing in April 2014. A further US$79m will be put towards repaying its euro-denominated 5% convertible/exchangeable bonds due 2015. Its US subsidiary will also receive US$96m of the proceeds to repay its 2.875% convertible bonds due 2023 and 2.875% convertible bonds due 2025.
A company spokesperson said that the notes were issued by Alcatel-Lucent USA to duplicate the credit structure of the successful bond issued by Alcatel Lucent USA in August.
Citigroup and Credit Suisse are joint global coordinators, while Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Morgan Stanley, Natixis, Unicredit, BofA Merrill Lynch, Credit Agricole and Deutsche Bank are joint bookrunning managers, the spokesperson said.
On Monday Alcatel-Lucent announced the launch of a €955m (US$1.3bn) capital increase, which will see it issue preferential subscription rights to holders of existing ordinary shares.
The new stock will be sold at €2.10, a significant discount to its opening share price on Monday which stood at €2.85.
The vendor’s stock has more than doubled since the start of the year, when it was trading down at €1.05.
Besides the US$750m notes and the €955m capital increase, Alcatel is also planning on implementing a €500m (US$675.4m) syndicated revolving credit facility.
The company has mandated Ondra as financial adviser for the total financing package, which will push out the company’s debt maturities to 2016.
