Brazilian telecoms operator Brasil Telecom, part of the Telemar Norte Leste (TNL, or Oi) group, has confirmed it plans to sell BRL2 billion (USD1.16 billion) of bonds in the local markets to refinance its short-term debt and fund future CAPEX requirements. In a statement yesterday, Oi said the unit plans to sell 200,000 bonds priced at BRL10,000 in two tranches. The first series of bonds will have a maturity of five years and the second, eight. The managers of the bond process will be Itau BBA, BB Investimentos and Bradesco BBI, it said.
The announcement comes days after the Brazilian operator completed a sale of USD1.5 billion of ten-year senior unsecured notes in the United States’ credit market. As reported by CommsUpdate, the book-runners managing that sale were Bank of America Merrill Lynch, BES Investimento do Brasil, Barclays Capital, BTG Pactual and HSBC. ‘The resources raised abroad will be used for general corporate purposes and to extend the profile of the company’s debt,’ said Oi finance director Alex Zornig in a statement. It is understood the 5.75% bonds were sold in the Rule 144a private-placement market and will be listed on the Global Exchange Market of the Irish Stock Exchange.