SES has tapped the buoyant European bond markets with the issue of a E650m 10-year bond. The bond, which was issued by SES S.A. and guaranteed by SES Global Americas Holdings GP, carries a coupon of 4.75% and priced at 99.486, the tight end of the price…
SES has tapped the buoyant European bond markets with the issue of a E650m 10-year bond. The bond, which was issued by SES S.A. and guaranteed by SES Global Americas Holdings GP, carries a coupon of 4.75% and priced at 99.486, the tight end of the price guidance, to yield 137 basis points over mid-swaps.
BBVA, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, ING, JPMorgan and Société Generale acted as joint bookrunners on the offering.
The company stated that it was an opportunistic transaction taking advantage of the current institutional investor appetite for longer term notes issued by investment grade rated companies. Indeed, the placement was one of only three corporate issues to take place in the European bond market in the week beginning 28 February, meaning there was surfeit of investor demand.
To that end, the transaction was 2.7 times oversubscribed with orders from nearly 140 investors, approximately 72% of which were asset managers. The investor base was spread across Europe with the UK acquiring 28%, France 25%, Germany/Austria 15%, and the rest of Europe representing 32%. SES is rated Baa2/BBB/BBB (all stable).
SatelliteFinance understands that proceeds from the debt are likely to be used to fund the replacement of a ?650m five-year bond that matures on 15 March 2011. The note was originally issued in March 2006 and carries a coupon of 4%.
Andrew Browne, chief financial officer of SES, commented: “We are pleased to have secured this facility and to have extended our debt maturity. The successful conclusion of this bond reflects SES’ position as a strong credit, and underlines our ability to secure long term funding on attractive terms.” The satellite operator was last in the Euro bond market back in March 2010 when it also placed a ?650m ten-year bond.
That debt paid a coupon of 4.635% and priced at 99.467 to yield 135 basis points over mid-swaps. The bond was 4.5 times oversubscribed and again asset managers were the most active purchasers, with the UK, Germany and France the operators main areas of investment. However, unlike this recent issue, the joint bookrunners on that offering were completely different with Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital, BNP Paribas, Commerzbank and Credit Suisse running the sale.
