AstraZeneca prices four-tranche $3bn global bond offering

(Sharecast News) - AstraZeneca priced a four-tranche global bond offering totalling $3bn on Tuesday, it announced on Wednesday morning.The FTSE 100 drugmaker said the offering was expected to close on 17 August, subject to customary closing conditions.It said it expected to use the net proceeds of the issue for general corporate purposes, which could include the refinancing of existing indebtedness.The transaction, which was described as a global offering registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, consisted of four tranches, including $0.85bn of fixed rate notes with a coupon of 3.500%, maturing 17 August 2023.It also consisted of $0.40bn of floating rate notes with a coupon of three-month LIBOR plus 0.665%, maturing 17 August 2023, and $1.00bn of fixed rate notes with a coupon of 4.000%, maturing 17 January 2029.The final tranche was $0.75bn of fixed rate notes with a coupon of 4.375%, maturing 17 August 2048."Citigroup, Deutsche Bank Securities, Goldman Sachs & Co and J.P. Morgan acted as joint book-running managers on the transaction," the AstraZeneca board said in its statement."The notes will be issued under AstraZeneca's effective shelf registration statement on Form F-3, which AstraZeneca filed with the SEC on 22 November 2016."The offering is being made solely by means of the prospectus contained within that shelf registration statement, along with a prospectus supplement forming part of the effective registration statement, which investors should read."