Saint Gobain Or Regulatory News (COD)

3 Nov 2006 08:53

Compagnie de Saint-Gobain03 November 2006 November 3, 2006. Press release SUCCESSFULL LAUNCH OF A DUAL-TRANCHE STG 600 MILLION BOND OFFERING CONSISTING OF - A STG 300 Mn tranche, 10-year maturity, annual coupon of 5.625% - A STG 300 Mn tranche, 18-year maturity, annual coupon of 5.625% Compagnie de Saint-Gobain, whose long-term senior debt is rated BBB+ by Standard& Poor's and Baa1 by Moody's, set yesterday the terms of its new benchmark bondissue denominated in Sterling. The dual-tranche issue was very well received by investors. Due to theimportance and quality of the investor demand (orderbook over STG 2.8 Bn), therespective spreads at launch were below the initial price-guidance, and thefinal size of the bond issue was increased from initial £500Mn to £600Mn. Thistransaction underlines bond investors' confidence in the credit quality ofSaint-Gobain, whose last issuance on the Sterling bond market was in 2001. Placement was made across a diversified basis of investors mainly in the UK.Amongst those investors, asset managers accounted for 44% and 46% of allocationsrespectively for the 10 and 18-year tranche, insurance companies and pensionfunds 29% and 38%, and banks 16% and 8%. This transaction was launched mainly to refinance part of the Group debt afterthe acquisition of British PlasterBoard end 2005, and lengthen the average debtmaturity of the Group. Indeed, the new 18-year tranche is the longest bond issueever launched by Compagnie de Saint-Gobain. Barclays Capital, HSBC Bank and The Royal Bank of Scotland acted as leadmanagers for this bond issue. Investor Relations department Florence Triou-Teixeira Tel.: +33 1 47 62 45 19 Alexandre Etuy Tel.: +33 1 47 62 37 15 Fax: +33 1 47 62 50 62 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange