eHi begins offer to exchange 7¾% notes due 2024 for new 2027 notes

By Marisa Wong

Los Angeles, March 11 – China’s eHi Car Services Ltd. announced an offer to exchange its $381.5 million of outstanding 7¾% senior notes due 2024 (ISIN: XS2335327388) for new senior notes with a tenor of three and a half years.

For each $1,000 principal amount of existing 2024 notes, the issuer is offering an exchange consideration consisting of a $200 upfront repayment of principal of the existing notes in cash; a principal amount of the new notes due 2027 equal to $800 multiplied by the exchange ratio of 105%; and exchange fee of $35 in cash; a fractional cash payment; and any accrued interest.

The company is also proposing to issue new senior notes under a concurrent new money offering.

The concurrent new money issuance is not part of the exchange offer and will be conducted separately. However, the new notes issued as part of the exchange offer consideration will be issued on the same terms and form a single series with the additional new notes to be issued under the concurrent new money issuance.

The company will announce the minimum interest rate of the new notes on March 13.

The exchange offer is subject to, among other things, a minimum acceptance amount of $267.05 million, or 70% of the outstanding principal amount of the 2024 notes, having been tendered by the expiration of the offer.

The exchange offer expires at noon ET on March 18.

Exchange offer results and pricing terms of the new notes will be announced on March 19.

Settlement is expected to occur on March 26.

Listing of the new notes is expected to be on March 27.

Completion of the exchange offer is a condition to the closing of the new notes.

The company said it intends to use proceeds from the concurrent new money issuance primarily to refinance the remaining 2024 notes not exchanged in the exchange offer, fund the cash components of the exchange offer and optimize its debt structure.

If either the exchange offer or the new money issuance is not completed, the company may consider an alternative debt refinancing exercise.

The exchange offer is only open to investors who are not U.S. persons under Regulation S and outside the United States.

The potential new money issuance will be arranged by Deutsche Bank AG, Singapore Branch and J.P. Morgan Securities plc as joint lead managers.

DB Trustees (Hong Kong) Ltd. will act as the trustee for the new notes.

D.F. King Ltd. (+44 20 7920 9700, +852 3953 7208; EHI@dfkingltd.com) is the information and exchange agent.

eHi Car Services is a car rental and services company based in Shanghai.

© 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.