Bahrain's Batelco wraps tenders for $131.43 million 4¼% notes at par

By Susanna Moon

Chicago, April 1 - Bahrain Telecommunications Co. BSC (Batelco) said investors had tendered $136,097,000 of the $650 million 4¼% guaranteed notes due 2020 issued by Batelco International Finance No. 1 Ltd.

The offer ended at 11 a.m. ET on March 31, and the company accepted for purchase $131,426,000 of the tendered notes, according to a company press release.

The purchase price will be par for each $1,000 principal amount.

Holders also will receive accrued interest up to but excluding the settlement date of April 4.

After settlement, there will be $472,945,000 of the notes outstanding.

Batelco said on March 24 that it began a tender offer for up to $200 million of the 4¼% notes.

Pricing was set using a modified Dutch auction with a minimum price of $970 per $1,000 principal amount.

The company previously said it would accept notes for purchase in the following order, subject to possible proration:

• All non-competitive offers for notes;

• All competitive offers with a price below the purchase price; and

• All competitive offers with a price equal to the purchase price.

Batelco previously said it wanted to purchase some of the notes as a result of excess liquidity from an acquisition that failed to go through, and the offer also provides some liquidity to noteholders.

The company also will benefit from reduced costs associated with the ongoing servicing of the notes.

The dealer managers were Citigroup Global Markets Ltd. (+44 20 7986 8969, attn: liability management group, e-mail to liabilitymanagement.europe@citi.com) and Standard Chartered Bank (+44 20788 55739; +971 0 4508 3650; +97145084412, e-mail to DCMSyndicateLON@sc.com; Hussain.zaidi@sc.om; mirza.sarmad@sc.com).

The tender agent was Citibank, NA (+44 0 20 7508 3867, e-mail exchange.gats@citi.com).

The Bahrain-based telecommunications operator is 78% owned by the Kingdom of Bahrain.

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