Vivendi to raise $1.4 billion in new bond issue
Publisher to rebalance its debt structure for Activision acquisition with US bonds
Vivendi has announced that it plans to raise around USD 1.4 billion in a US bond issue, in order to help finance its acquisitions of fellow publisher Activision and French telecoms company Neuf Cegetel.
According to a Forbes report the motives behind the bond issue revolve around a desire to rebalance the structure of its debt, which to date had revolved around bank debt, and increase the length of the average loan maturity.
To that end the bonds will fall due in two stages, the first USD 700 million of bonds at a rate of 5.75 per cent maturing in 2013, and the second batch of USD 700 million bonds at 6.625 per cent due in 2018.
The US bonds will also allow the publisher to spread its debt across different currencies as well, with the expected deadline for bond purchase on Friday April 4.
The Activision Blizzard merger will see the combination of two of the largest companies come together, although details on an expected completion date is not yet known, with speculation pointing to this summer.