SES raises €750m
June 6, 2016
By Chris Forrester
Satellite operator SES has raised €750 million by way of a “hybrid bond” at a coupon rate of 4.625 per cent.
Described as of “strategic and long-term importance” for SES, the extra cash is to be added to the recent issue of fresh equity which itself generated almost €909 million.
“SES intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for the repayment of a portion of the existing indebtedness of O3b, the repayment of certain existing indebtedness of the Group as well as for general corporate purposes.”
Padraig McCarthy, CFO at SES, commented: “The successful completion of this hybrid issuance in benchmark size is an important element of our financing strategy and further diversifies SES’s funding sources. The transaction was strongly supported by a wide range of high quality existing and new investors. A substantial part of the proceeds will be used to refinance expensive debt in O3b, an important synergy arising from the acquisition of our 100 per cent ownership in O3b, along with senior SES debt maturing in the second half of 2016.”
JP Morgan, BNP-Paribas, Société Générale, HSBC, ING and Morgan Stanley all participated in the exercise. SES share price fell 1.4 per cent to €19.42.