B Communications (B Com), the holding company of Israeli incumbent Bezeq, has priced a US$800m private offering of 7.375% senior secured notes at par.
The offering of the notes, which will mature in 2021, is expected to close on or about 19…
B Communications (B Com), the holding company of Israeli incumbent Bezeq, has priced a US$800m private offering of 7.375% senior secured notes at par.
The offering of the notes, which will mature in 2021, is expected to close on or about 19 February.
JP Morgan was coordinator and bookrunner, while Citi, HSBC and Israel’s Discount Underwriting & Issuing acted as joint bookrunners.
Proceeds will be used to repay amounts outstanding under the loans secured to buy its 30% controlling stake in Bezeq for US$1.75bn in 2010. It will also “deposit funds into a debt service account”, it said in a statement.
Once the notes offering is complete, the company plans to redeem outstanding series A debentures, which stood at NIS186m (US$52.9m) as of 30 September 2013, using cash on hand.
B Com said a few weeks ago that it was looking to raise US$775m in a bond issue split into US dollar and euro tranches.
At the time, Fitch was expecting to assign a BB- rating to the offering, citing B Com’s strong credit profile but also its limited flexibility to sell assets because of legal requirements over controlling stakes in Israel.
