By Paul Deckelman
New York, June 23 - Millipore Corp. priced a split-rated €250 million issue of 10-year senior notes Friday to yield Bunds plus 200 basis points, high yield syndicate sources said.
Those notes, carrying a coupon of 5 7/8%, priced at 99.611, for a spread of 200 basis points over the reference security, the 3½% German government Bund due January 2016 - in line with pre-deal market price talk which had emerged Thursday.
The bond issue came off the European desks of joint lead managers Banc of America Securities and UBS Investment Bank.
The bonds priced Friday morning ET after a short roadshow marketing the deal to potential investors that began on Wednesday and wrapped up during the European trading day Friday. The issue came on investors' radar screen late Monday via news reports indicating that a deal was in the works.
The issue - carrying a high junk Ba2 rating from Moody's Investors Service and a low investment-grade BBB- rating with a stable outlook from Standard & Poor's - is expected to mostly interest high-grade crossover players looking to dip down and pick up a little yield, a junk trader said Friday.
Millipore, a Billerica, Mass.-based biotechnology company, will use the new-deal proceeds for general corporate purposes.
The bond issue was Millipore's second trip to the debt markets this month. The company recently sold $550 million of new 3¾% convertible senior notes due 2026, using the proceeds to fund a portion of the merger costs connected with its $1.4 billion all-cash acquisition of Serologicals Corp., a consumable biological products manufacturer. That acquisition was announced in April, and is expected to close by the end of this month.
| Issuer: | Millipore Corp.
|
| Amount: | $200 million
|
| Security description: | Senior unsecured notes
|
| Maturity: | 2016
|
| Lead managers: | Banc of America Securities, UBS Investment Bank (joint)
|
| Coupon: | 5 7/8%
|
| Price: | 99.611
|
| Spread: | 200 basis points over 3½% Bund of January 2016
|
| Ratings: | Moody's: Ba2
|
| S&P: BBB-
|
| Price talk: | 200 basis points
|
|
|
|
|
© 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.
