Australian telco and satellite operator Optus has priced A$250m (US$194m) worth of seven-year notes to increase the maturity profile and diversity of its debt.
The fixed-rate bond carries a 4% coupon and will be issued on 17 June.
ANZ, Citigroup,…
Australian telco and satellite operator Optus has priced A$250m (US$194m) worth of seven-year notes to increase the maturity profile and diversity of its debt.
The fixed-rate bond carries a 4% coupon and will be issued on 17 June.
ANZ, Citigroup, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and Westpac acted as joint lead managers and bookrunners.
A spokeswoman said it will use the debt for general corporate purposes, and declined to disclose further financial details.
The last time Optus tapped the bond markets was in December 2013, when it issued 4.75% notes worth A$300m due 2018.
In 2010 it launched a 3.5% €700m bond due 2020, and a year before that it priced a 4.625% US$500m bond due 2019.
Its latest offer comes less than a week after the group’s Singaporean owner Singtel delisted from Australia’s stock exchange, following low trade volumes.
Singtel, a large telecoms player in Asia and Africa and the biggest Singapore company on the Singapore Exchange by market capitalisation, had been listed on ASX since acquiring Optus in 2001.
The parent group has said it remains committed to growing its business in Australia, where it has invested more than A$13bn (US$10bn) in building infrastructure and improving communication services.
A wave of consolidation is currently sweeping across Australia’s telecoms market, with takeover battles taking place among TPG, iiNet and M2, as well as Amcom and Vocus Communications.
The country is also in the middle of rolling out the National Broadband Network (NBN) public-private partnership, which is using satellites as one of three technologies to reach all premises in the country.
Optus is Australia’s only locally based satellite owner and operator, and has agreed to operate NBN’s upcoming US$2bn pair of satellites for at least 15 years, helping to deliver the internet to rural areas.
