The CFO of Verizon Communications, Fran Shammo, has said the company is looking to refinance its US$61bn bridge loan very quickly.
On 2 September, the operator announced the enormous short-term facility with JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, BofA Merrill…
The CFO of Verizon Communications, Fran Shammo, has said the company is looking to refinance its US$61bn bridge loan very quickly.
On 2 September, the operator announced the enormous short-term facility with JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, BofA Merrill Lynch and Barclays for its US$130bn deal to buy Vodafone out of Verizon Wireless.
The bridge will be replaced with up to US$49bn in corporate bonds and US$12bn in term loans, according to banking sources cited by Reuters. Verizon is reportedly also raising an additional US$2bn revolver, which may not be drawn.
The company will embark on roadshows next week in the US and later in the month in Europe. JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, BofA Merrill Lynch and Barclays will manage the offering, in part as a reward for providing the bridge, local reports said.
Speaking on a conference call yesterday, Shammo said: “As far as replacing the bridge with permanent financing, obviously we are going to move as quickly as we possibly can, both here in the states and internationally … the timeline [will be] as short as we possibly can make it and what the market will bear.”
Prenup agreed
Meanwhile the US telco has agreed a US$1.55bn break-up free with Vodafone should either side terminate the transaction.
In an SEC filing Verizon said the fee applied to both sides and that they would have to pay the sum within five days of announcing a termination.
Speaking on the same call, Verizon’s CEO Lowell McAdam confirmed that his company had discussed the possibility of a full merger with Vodafone but decided it did not make sense for either side’s shareholders.
McAdam also shed more light on Verizon’s decision not to enter the Canadian market, announced earlier this week: “I just have to say that the press made a lot more of our interest in Canada then there was on the fourth floor of Basking Ridge [the company’s headquarters].”
“It is something that we look at, we look at a lot of different countries around the world, will continue to do that. But it was always on the fringe for us.”
