German internet and mobile services provider Freenet has placed a €560m (US$618m) promissory note loan. The company will use the proceeds to refinance a €400m bond maturing in April, and to support organic and inorganic growth, CFO Joachim Preisig said in a statement.
German internet and mobile services provider Freenet (XETRA:FNTN) has placed a €560m (US$618m) promissory note loan. The company will use the proceeds to refinance a €400m bond maturing in April, and to support organic and inorganic growth, CFO Joachim Preisig said in a statement.
Bayerische Landesbank, Commerzbank, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg and UniCredit Bank acted as lead arrangers.
The transaction comprises a five-year fixed tranche worth €264m (US$291m), a five-year floating-rate tranche worth €179m (US$198m), a seven-year fixed tranche worth €78.5m (US$87m), a seven-year floating-rate tranche worth €15m (US$17m) and a 10-year fixed tranche worth €23.5m (US$26m).
It has a fixed coupon of 1.03% for the five-year fixed tranche, a floating coupon of 1.00% for the first six months of the five-year floating-rate tranche, a fixed coupon of 1.45% for the fixed seven-year tranche, a floating coupon of 1.20% for the first six months of the seven-year floating-rate tranche and a fixed coupon of 1.95% for the fixed 10-year tranche.
The average annual interest rate works out at 1.12%. Freenet will draw the loan on 3 March 2016.
According to Preisig, “by placing this promissory note loan, we are taking advantage of the very favourable capital market environment and setting the highly attractive interest rate for ourselves in the medium to long term. The transaction provides further confirmation of our attractiveness for investors, who are classifying us at investment grade level. Our financial structure is thereby being optimised further in order, on the one hand, to secure the refinancing of the corporate bond that matures in April 2016, and, on the other, to have funds available for further organic and inorganic growth as and when required”.
