Millicom to redeem $455 million 10% bonds due 2013 in full in December

By Marisa Wong

Madison, Wis., Sept. 9 - Millicom International Cellular SA said it plans to redeem in full its 10% bonds due 2013 in December.

The plan is conditioned on raising new financing within the company's operations of up to $400 million, which is to be completed in the next few weeks.

The par value of the bonds is approximately $455 million, and the early redemption will result in a penalty of 1.65%, all of which will be paid out of the company's cash balances.

The redemption is expected to lead to earnings-per-share accretion of more than 5% in 2011.

"The redemption of the high-yield bond is an important step forward in our financing strategy. This proposal, combined with other financing recently put in place, will reduce our effective cost of financing, extend our average maturity to more than three and a half years, strengthen our risk management and improve our tax efficiency," said Francois-Xavier Roger, chief financial officer of Millicom.

"At the same time, we are maintaining a good level of liquidity to provide us with flexibility for any growth opportunities that arise, while creating significant value for shareholders by reducing the cost of that liquidity."

Millicom is a telecommunications group based in Luxembourg.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.