Pellerano & Herrera counsels underwriters in €2.8 billion Altice bond offering
Published on:Pellerano & Herrera acted as local counsel to the underwriters in a €2.8 billion bond offering of Altice Financing, S.A.. The legal team was led by partner Carolina León and senior associate María Montero. The firm’s work included the review of the purchase agreement, Offering Memorandum Disclosures, relevant diligence documents, and Indenture, as well as general legal assistance for the closing of the local deal.
In this transaction, Altice Europe N.V. successfully priced and allocated €2.8 billion of new Senior Secured Notes at Altice International following significant excess demand:
- €2.2 billion (equivalent) of 8-year euro and dollar Senior Secured Notes due 2028 with a weighted average cost on a fully euro swapped basis of 3.06%; and,
- €600 million of 5-year euro Senior Secured Notes due 2025 with a cost of 2.25%.
These Senior Secured Notes are the lowest coupon debt ever raised by Altice International. The proceeds from this transaction will be used by Altice International to refinance in full its €500 million and US$2,060 million 2023 Senior Secured Notes and US$400 million 2024 Senior Notes. In parallel, €2.351 billion of proceeds from recent disposals and cash available on balance sheet will be used to permanently repay debt of €500 million at Altice Luxembourg and €1.85 billion at Altice International (including €250 million, 9.0% Senior Notes due 2023 it called for redemption in December 2019). Total annual interest savings pro forma for this transaction are €187 million, through both average cost and debt reduction. This refinancing transaction further strengthens Altice Europe's liquidity profile. The average maturity of Altice International debt capital structure, prior to the permanent debt repayment, has been extended from 5.4 to 6.9 years.
Financial institutions that participated in the transaction were: J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited, J.P. Morgan Securities PLC, Barclays Bank PLC, Barclays Capital Inc, BNP Paribas, Citigroup Global Markets Limited, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch, Goldman Sachs International, ING Bank N.V., London Branch, Morgan Stanley & Co. International PLC, Nomura International PLC, RBC Capital Markets, LLC, RBC Europe Limited and Société Générale.
Vinson & Elkins RLLP served as counsel to the underwriters and lenders in the United States, Ropes & Gray as US counsel to Altice and Castillo & Castillo assisted Altice Financing, S.A. in the Dominican Republic.
Pellerano & Herrera has been the leading law firm in the Dominican Republic for more than 30 years. The firm has participated in the most relevant and complex transactions in the history of the country and has the most complete and multidisciplinary team of lawyers, with vast experience in more areas of practice than any other firm in the market. Pellerano & Herrera is the exclusive member firm in the Dominican Republic for Lex Mundi – the world’s leading network of independent law firms with in-depth experience in 100+ countries world.
