IEC will look to raise $1 billion overseas.
Sources inform ''Globes'' that JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) and Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) will be the lead underwriters in a bond issue by Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) (TASE: ELEC.B22) overseas. Lehman Brothers was also supposed to be an underwriter for the offering, which became irrelevant when the investment bank went bankrupt. Citigroup and Lehman Brothers led IEC's last bond offering in the US.
IEC aims to raise $1 billion in a bond offering to institutional investors in the first quarter of 2009. The company wants to use the proceeds to help finance its development plan and to recycle part of its debt, which is due to mature next year. IEC is due to repay NIS 5.9 billion next year, compared with NIS 1.5 billion this year.
Four months ago, IEC raised $1 billion in a bond offering in the US. The bonds are traded on the Singapore Stock Exchange and bear a dollar interest rate of 7.25%, 2.5% higher than the Libor.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 20, 2008
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2008