Verizon Communications is planning to upsize its latest bond offering to as much as US$49bn after receiving more than US$90bn in orders.
The US telco was initially looking to raise US$20bn, which would already have been the largest corporate bond issue…
Verizon Communications is planning to upsize its latest bond offering to as much as US$49bn after receiving more than US$90bn in orders.
The US telco was initially looking to raise US$20bn, which would already have been the largest corporate bond issue in history, as it looks to refinance its US$61bn bridge facility for its US$130bn Verizon Wireless buyout.
However it has been widely reported that Verizon is now looking to sell all of its planned US$49bn bonds in one go today. The offering will come a week ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting, which may see a change in the central bank’s strategy to reduce its monetary stimulus and therefore cause interest rates to rise.
This expectation that interest rates are set to rise is said to have factored into Verizon’s decision to buy Vodafone’s 45% stake in Verizon Wireless now, according to multiple reports.
Maturities of up to 100 years had been touted for some of the tranches. However the longest tenure is now expected to be 30 years
Pricing is set to go ahead on the multi-tranche issuance today. The sale will likely blow Apple’s record breaking US$17bn offering in April out of the water.
In an SEC filing Verizon said the offering is being managed by Barclays, BofA Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley. Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Mitsubishi UFJ, Mizuho, RBC Capital Markets, RBS and Wells Fargo are passive bookrunners on the offering.
In addition to the US$49bn in notes Verizon is also looking to borrow US$14bn. This is set to come in the form of two term loans and a revolver.