South African media group Naspers has completed a US$750m bond offering of senior unsecured 6% notes due July 2020. The notes were issued by subsidiary Myriad International Holdings (MIH), are fully guaranteed by Naspers and are expected to be traded on…
South African media group Naspers has completed a US$750m bond offering of senior unsecured 6% notes due July 2020.
The notes were issued by subsidiary Myriad International Holdings (MIH), are fully guaranteed by Naspers and are expected to be traded on the global exchange market of the Irish stock exchange from 18 July.
Barclays and Citigroup are believed to have been joint bookrunners on the transaction, which is the company’s first overseas offering for three years, having raised US$700m in 7-year notes in 2010. It is also the region’s first foreign corporate issuance for more than two months.
Net proceeds from the financing will predominantly be used for financing future acquisitions and the repayment of certain amounts outstanding under Naspers’ US$2bn revolving credit facility due 2016.
According to Dion Bate, Moody’s local market analyst for Naspers, the new Baa3-rated debt will be used to repay borrowings under the group’s RCF and increase the available amount under the RCF to pursue debt funded acquisitions in e-commerce.
The US$2bn revolver has approximately US$600m available and following the settlement of the new notes, Naspers will increase this to around US$1.3bn and use it to fund future bolt-on acquisitions.
Naspers owns valuable holdings in two fast-growing e-commerce businesses, China-based Tencent Holdings and Mail.ru Group of Russia.
The group also owns South African DTH provider Multichoice, which has experienced robust growth over the past couple of years, aided by its dominant market position. The satellite broadcaster is increasingly looking to expand its presence across the Sub-Saharan Africa.
Naspers reported R50.2bn (approximately US$5.5bn) in revenues and R9.3bn (US$950m) in adjusted EBITDA for FYE 31 March 2013.
