Alberto-Culver pleased with bond deal outcome, lured to market by attractive interest rates

By Andrea Heisinger

New York, May 19 - The $150 million sale of 5.15% bonds due 2020 by Alberto-Culver Co. was considered a success by the company, a spokesperson said on Wednesday.

The deal was priced on Tuesday.

"It went extremely well," director of corporate development and investor relations Doug Craney said. "We were happy with the interest with the offering."

Alberto is an infrequent issuer in the high-grade market. The company's last bond issue was in 1998, Craney said.

He explained why the company chose to tap the market more than a decade later.

"The market is attractive from an [interest] rate standpoint," he said.

The company may have more acquisitions in the pipeline over the next few years, he said, and this gives it more cash at hand.

Alberto has acquired two skin care companies in the past 18 months, with Simple and Noxema in 2009 and 2008, respectively.

The 10-year maturity was chosen because "we generate an awful lot of cash, and that was the maturity that worked for us," he said.

The company is sitting pretty from a balance sheet perspective, Craney said, and this issue simply puts it in a better position to make acquisitions or have more cash at hand.

"We have $100 million in cash on our balance sheet and no debt, so you could say we're underleveraged," he said of the company's status before the bond sale.

Alberto-Culver is a distributor and marketer of health, beauty, food and household products based in Melrose Park, Ill.

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