Eircom today reported a 9 per cent rise in first-quarter core earnings in what is expected to be its final results publication as a public listed company.
It was revealed today the company plans to issue a €350 million floating-rate high-yield note to help finance its acquisition by a consortium led by Babcock & Brown Capital.
In May, the Babcock & Brown consortium agreed to buy Eircom in a deal valuing the group at €2.4 billion. Last month Eircom shareholders voted in favour of the takeover, and the company is expected to delist from the stock exchange later this month.
The ten-year senior notes, to be issued via BCM Ireland Finance Limited, cannot be called for one year, a senior source said. After that they may be called at 102 per cent of face value, 101 per cent, and par in subsequent years. A roadshow starts in London on Monday, August 7th, the source said.
Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Barclays Capital and Dresdner Kleinwort are managing the sale and are arranging the senior bank debt backing the acquisition.
Standard & Poor's has assigned the planned note issue a rating of B.
BCM has offered to buy back Eircom's existing bonds and said on Tuesday it had received tenders for over 98 per cent of the bonds issued. The tender offer runs until August 17th.