LONDON (Alliance News) - Vodafone Group PLC confirmed late Tuesday it raised GBP3.44 billion through the issue of mandatory convertible bonds to fund the acquisition of European assets of US cable television provider Liberty Global.
Early Tuesday morning, the FTSE 100 telecommunications firm had said it intended to raise around EUR4 billion, which converts to GBP3.44 billion.
The sterling denominated bonds are to be issued in two tranches maturing no later than March 2021 and 2022 respectively, with the initial conversion price to be announced by Vodafone after the market close on Friday.
The coupon for both tranches is expected to be 1.4% to 1.7% per annum and 1.7% to 2.0% per annum respectively.
The number of shares into which the bonds are convertible are expected to represent 9.8% of Vodafone's current share capital.
Vodafone shares closed up 2.2% at 134.24 pence on Tuesday.
Proceeds from the bond issue will go towards partly financing the acquisition of Liberty Global assets in Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania, as well as bank loan refinancing and corporate purposes.
In May, Vodafone announced a deal which will see it acquire the "highly complementary" operations of Liberty Global in Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania for an enterprise value of EUR18.4 billion.
Vodafone (VOD)
