News

NZ Contact Energy in US$150m bond sale

Alexander Richter 3 Mar 2009

New Zealand's Contact Energy Ltd is "seeking to raise NZ$300 million (US$150 million) from the bond sale and is able to accept unlimited oversubscriptions, the Wellington-based company said in a statement sent to the stock exchange.

Reported by Bloomberg, New Zealand’s Contact Energy Ltd is “seeking to raise NZ$300 million (US$150 million) from the bond sale and is able to accept unlimited oversubscriptions, the Wellington-based company said in a statement sent to the stock exchange.

The company sets an 8% interest rate on these 5-year bonds.

Contact is selling the bonds to help fund a three-year, NZ$1.2 billion (US$600 million) investment in gas-fired and geothermal generation as well as to repay debt. Last week, the company said it will replace dividends with bonus shares to retain cash after first- half earnings fell 31 percent.

The bonds are being offered to retail investors, with plans to have them publicly traded, Contact said. The securities have a BBB rating from Standard & Poor’s.

First NZ Capital Securities Ltd., ABN Amro New Zealand Ltd. ANZ National Bank Ltd. and Forsyth Barr Ltd. are advising the company.”

Source: Bloomberg