ONO Seeks 460 Million Euros From Dollar, Euro Bonds
By Ben Martin and Esteban Duarte - Jan 20, 2011 5:08 PM GMT+0100Thu Jan 20 16:08:50 GMT 2011
Grupo Corporativo Ono SA, the Spanish cable TV company, is raising 460 million euros ($621 million) from a sale of high-yield bonds in dollars and euros, according to two people with knowledge of the sale.
The 8 1/2-year notes, issued through ONO Finance II Plc, will refinance existing debt, said the people, who declined to be identified because terms aren’t set. Deutsche Bank AG and Bank of America Corp. are managing the sale.
Ono is selling the notes as yields on
junk bonds relative to government debt have shrunk 71 basis points this year to 547, the smallest gap since Oct. 28, Bank of America Merrill Lynch index data show. The Madrid-based group may need to offer a bigger premium because it’s in one of the euro-region’s so- called peripheral countries, where yields have jumped on concern the nations will struggle to fund their budget deficits.
“This deal shows how strong an appetite there is out there at the moment, because it’s a high-beta credit domiciled in one of the peripheral European countries,” said Alex Moss, a senior credit analyst at Insight Investment Management in
London.
High-yield debt is graded below Baa3 by Moody’s Investors Service and BBB- by Standard & Poor’s.
A Madrid-based spokeswoman for Ono who declined to be identified citing company policy, wouldn’t comment.