Bombardier Inc. was back in the high-yield market Monday, refinancing bonds due over the next two years just as S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service boosted their outlooks for the troubled Canadian planemaker.
The Montreal-based company sold $750 million of 6.5-year bonds at 6%, the wide-end of pricing guidance offered earlier, according to people familiar with the transaction. Shortly after the deal was first announced S&P raised its outlook on the CCC+ rated company to stable from negative, while Moody’s boosted the firm’s rating one notch to an equivalent Caa1, or seven levels below investment grade.
The “new debt issuance, combined with debt reduction from excess cash, mitigates near-term refinancing risks,” S&P analysts led by Madhav Hari said in a statement. The company now has minimal debt maturities through late 2024, the analyst wrote. BBG