Polish satellite and cable TV broadcaster TVN has postponed plans to sell €485m of senior notes due 2020, citing market uncertainty brought on by the Euro Crisis.
JP Morgan, Nomura and BNP Paribas had been lined up as joint book-running managers, with…
Polish satellite and cable TV broadcaster TVN has postponed plans to sell €485m of senior notes due 2020, citing market uncertainty brought on by the Euro Crisis.
JP Morgan, Nomura and BNP Paribas had been lined up as joint book-running managers, with Deutsche Bank as co-manager, for the offering to refinance existing notes.
However, volatile markets in the wake of Cyprus’ struggle in March to repay its debt spooked TVN from the bond market.
In a statement on 22 March, CFO John Driscoll explained: “We approached the market opportunistically but unfortunately the increased market uncertainty around the situation in Cyprus meant that we could not achieve the tight yield targets necessary to justify paying the cost associated with the early redemption of the existing notes.
“As we do not have any need to refinance now, we will continue to monitor the
markets over the coming quarters.”
The company had previously outlined plans to use the bond’s proceeds, together with cash from the disposal of web portal Grupa Onet.pl last year, to redeem all of its 10.75% senior notes due 2017.
If the refinancing was successful, Driscoll said the company would pay a dividend of PLN0.72 (US$0.22) per share in December this year.
TVN and French DTH firm Canal+ merged their pay-TV platforms in Poland in late 2012 to create the second-largest satellite TV operator in the country, behind Cyfrowy Polsat. Alongside the deal, Canal+ acquired a 40% stake in N-Vision, TVN’s parent company, from local investment firm ITI Group for €230m (US$298m).
Moody’s had assigned a provisional B1 rating to TVN’s proposed notes, after highlighting how advertising demand remains uncertain given broad macroeconomic difficulties.
“With the deconsolidation of its pay-TV business and the sale of its online segment, both of which benefited from relatively stable revenue streams, TVN’s business model is now considerably more exposed to the cyclicality of the advertising market,” stated the ratings agency.
