Teva to raise $1.5b in Switzerland

The company will issue euro and Swiss franc denominated bonds.

25 March 12 14:34, Gali Weinreb

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) will raise $1.5 billion in euro and Swiss franc denominated bonds in Switzerland. The company did not disclose the interest rate or maturity of the bonds.

"We are diversifying our sources of financing, while exploiting the Swiss interest rate, which is the lowest in the world," Teva CFO Eyal Desheh told "Globes". He added that Teva would not raise capital in the near future to support its operations, but only out of financial considerations.

Desheh said that Teva's bond debt currently totals $10 billion. In its financial report for 2011, Teva reported that its debt grew by $7.6 billion in 2011, due to the acquisitions of Cephalon Inc. in the US and Taiyo Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. in Japan. The company's debt-to-capital ratio rose to 39% at the end of 2011 from 24% a year earlier.

Teva's total debt is $14.5 billion, and it is due to repay $3.6 billion in 2012 and an additional $4.3 billion in 2013-14. The company has $1.7 billion in cash, and it plans to generate $5 billion in cash flow from operations, up from $4.2 billion in 2011.

Teva's share price rose 0.2% by mid-afternoon on the TASE today to NIS 161.70, after falling 0.2% on Nasdaq on Friday to $43.07, giving a market cap of $40.6 billion.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 25, 2012

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