US satellite broadcaster DirecTV has started selling £750m (US$1.2bn) worth of notes due to mature on 14 September 2029, according to a final term sheet.
Carrying an annual coupon of 4.375%, the notes priced at 98.923 and have a yield to maturity of…
US satellite broadcaster DirecTV has started selling £750m (US$1.2bn) worth of notes due to mature on 14 September 2029, according to a final term sheet.
Carrying an annual coupon of 4.375%, the notes priced at 98.923 and have a yield to maturity of 4.418%.
The joint bookrunning managers on that transaction are Barclays, Deutsche Bank, Citigroup, Credit Suisse and UBS.
DirecTV said it would apply to list the notes on the New York Stock Exchange.
The company intends to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes, including a share repurchase programme.
Fitch Ratings has assigned a ‘BBB-‘ rating to the offering, while Standard & Poor’s gave a ‘BBB’.
“Over the long term, we expect the company to use the proceeds from additional debt financings, its cash balance, and cash flow generation to fund shareholder-friendly initiatives – likely share repurchases – but to keep them within the 2.5x leverage parameter,” stated S&P.
In early March, DirecTV hit the market with a US$4bn triple tranche bond offering. At the time the company, which has been a perennial visitor to the US bond market, also said it was looking to use the proceeds to help fund its share repurchase plan.
In recent years, share buybacks have been DirecTV’s main strategy in returning value to its shareholders. To that end, as part of in its full year 2011 results announcement, the company’s board authorised a new US$6bn repurchase plan for 2012.
As of 30 June, DirecTV had around US$4.2bn of share repurchase capacity remaining, according to Fitch.
