Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) has filed a prospectus with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to raise $750 million in bonds. The company plans to complete the offering on Wall Street today, despite the market volatility caused by the situation in Japan.
Underwriters include Goldman Sachs, Citi, Barclays Capital, BNP Baribas, Morgan Stanley, and HSBC.
Teva is offering fixed-interest bonds and variable-interest bonds based on LIBOR. Both series will mature in 2014.
Teva raised $2.5 billion in its previous bond offering in June 2010, in which it issued three bond series. Some of the underwriters in that offering are also participating in the current one, although Credit Suisse Securities LLC and Credit Agricole are absent this time.
Both Moody's Investment Services Inc. and Standard and Poor's give Teva's bonds an A rating.
Teva has undertaken several measures related to its debt and balance sheet in recent months. They include the early redemption of $813 million worth of bonds and the obtaining of a $1.5 billion three-year credit line from a banking syndicate. The company has also allotted up to $1 billion for a share buyback.
In the prospectus, Teva states that it will use proceeds from the bond offering to repay dollar-denominated debts, including from the credit line used to acquire Ratiopharm exactly a year ago. The debts to be repaid bear interest at LIBOR plus 0.95-1%.
Teva's share price fell 0.7% in early trading on Nasdaq to $48.11, giving a market cap of $43.15 billion, after falling 1% on the TASE to NIS 170.90.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 16, 2011
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