US tower operator Crown Castle is issuing US$500m of eight-year senior notes to redeem its US$500m of outstanding 7.125% senior notes due 2019.
It has mandated Barclays, Credit Agricole, BofA Merrill Lynch, TD Securities, RBC Capital Markets, RBS,…
US tower operator Crown Castle is issuing US$500m of eight-year senior notes to redeem its US$500m of outstanding 7.125% senior notes due 2019.
It has mandated Barclays, Credit Agricole, BofA Merrill Lynch, TD Securities, RBC Capital Markets, RBS, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Mitsubishi UFJ and Citigroup as the joint book-running managers.
The towerco last visited the debt markets at the start of the year when it borrowed US$700m in incremental term loans, split between a US$500m tranche maturing in January 2021 and a US$200m tranche due November 2018.
Crown Castle has US$11.4bn total debt and the 2019 notes are its bonds which are closest to maturity. The towerco has a revolver and term loans totalling US$1bn due in 2018.
Fitch rated the new notes BB- and said it expected the tower operator to deleverage further this year, through a mix of cash flow growth and debt reduction.
Crown Castle completed the US$4.83bn acquisition of 9,700 towers late last year from AT&T, which took its US portfolio to 40,000 sites. Fitch said that Crown Castle’s focus on the US market, instead of looking to emerging markets for growth like its rivals, would help to keep its rating stable.