Corrected: Infratil to raise up to $50 mln in new infrastructure bond

Monday 7th November 2011

Infratil wants to raise as much as $50 million in a new listed infrastructure bond and will give bondholders whose debt matures this month the option of swapping their securities for the new one.

The Wellington-based infrastructure investor will pay annual interest of 8 percent on unsecured, unsubordinated bonds that mature in November 2017, and wants to raise up to $25 million with the ability to accept a further $25 million in over-subscriptions, it said in a statement.

The second part of the deal will let investors, owed $20 million in a bond maturing on Nov. 15, swap some or all of their bonds for the new debt. The 2011 bond pays a coupon of 8.5 percent.

Infratil didn’t say what the funds will be used for, though last month it said it plans to increase spending at Wellington International Airport beyond the existing $20 million to $25 million annual spend.

Forsyth Barr, ANZ National Bank, First NZ Capital and Westpac Banking have been appointed managers of the offer.

Infratil’s shares rose 1.1 percent to $1.84 in trading on Friday, and have shed 5.2 percent this year.

The offer is the latest to come to the NZX debt market, after Contact Energy this month said it is mulling issuing bonds worth $150 million and Insurance Australia Group looking at a similar issue in New Zealand.

Last month, trading in NZX debt securities sank 41 percent, or just 0.5 percent of its$15.5 billion market capitalisation.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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