The Digicel Group has moved to ease its debt burden by asking holders of US$ 3 billion of its bonds to switch to longer-term notes.
Digicel is offering to exchange US$2 billion of bonds that are due to be repaid in September 2020 for newly-issued bonds that mature in 2022.
In a statement on Friday, the company said the new bonds would carry the same coupon or interest rate of 8.25 per cent.
In addition, the telecommunication group, which operates across the Caribbean and South Pacific regions, is offering to exchange US$1 billion of bonds that are set to mature in 2022 for higher-cost securities that would not stand to be redeemed until 2024.
Bondholders that take up the offer by September 14 will be offered 100 per cent of what they are owed, including a 5 per cent early tender premium.
Those who subscribe before the final cut-off point on September 28 stand to receive 95 per cent.
The 2020 bonds, which had been trading as low as 66.7 cents on the dollar during the week, soared as much as 8.7 cents on Friday as investors gave an initial welcome to the plan, which may ease near-term refinancing risks at Digicel as it seeks to rebuild its earnings and lower the burden of its US$6.7 billion of borrowings.
comments powered by Disqus
All feeds
