PPF banka has helped with the primary
subscription to the bonds of PPF Telecom Group B.V., the holding and management
company of a leading telecommunications group operating in several Central and
Eastern European countries. The issue of the four-year senior secured EUR 500
million bonds matures on 20 May 2024 and carries a fixed annual coupon at a
rate of 3.5%. The bond is expected to be rated Ba1 by Moody’s, BB + by Standard
& Poor’s, and BBB- by Fitch Ratings, in line with the PPF Telecom Group
corporate ratings.
As one of the joint book runners, PPF banka served
the Czech market, collecting orders from institutional investors; towards the close
of the transaction it helped to determine the final price. Overall it therefore
contributed to the successful subscription to the whole issue.
Following just one day of marketing for more
than 60 investors, strong demand for the bond issue developed. More than 100
reputable international investors bought the bonds. The final order book was 2.2
times oversubscribed.
The initially considered price intended for the
offer of the new four-year bond was announced at 3.875%. The pattern of the book
was positive, which made it possible for PPF Telecom Group to adjust the
expected yield and further revise the price to finally value the €500m
transaction with a yield of 3.6%.
The issue was attractive and was mainly sold to
asset managers (82%), with most of the demand coming from the UK (30%), Germany
(16%), France (14%), and Benelux (13%). Investors in the Czech Republic
subscribed to 10% of the issue.
BNP Paribas and HSBC acted as the structuring
banks, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, Erste Group and HSBC as the global coordinators,
and Bank of China, PPF banka, Société Générale and UniCredit as co-managers.
