The bond issue will enable the Group to strengthen its financial resources and extend the average maturity of its debt under favorable conditions. Edenred will allocate the net proceeds from the issue to general corporate purposes, as well as to refinancing €250 million in bonds with a coupon of 2.625% maturing in late October 2020.
Placed with a diverse base of international institutional investors, the bond issue was more than 2 times oversubscribed, with total demand exceeding €1.2 billion.
The success of the transaction reflects the market’s confidence in the Group’s credit quality, following on from the renewal of its “Strong Investment Grade” (BBB+A-2 Outlook stable) credit rating by Standard & Poor’s in May.
Patrick Bataillard, Executive Vice President, Finance, said: “Through the amount raised, the time to maturity and the conditions obtained, the success of this bond issue once again demonstrates the confidence investors place in the strength of Edenred’s model and outlook. The transaction is part of our policy of actively managing our financial resources, aimed at securing our financing options over the long term while optimizing our cost of debt and giving us all the flexibility needed to pursue our Next Frontier strategic plan.”
Barclays, Crédit Agricole CIB and Société Générale CIB served as global coordinators and joint active bookrunners. BNP Paribas, Citi, Commerzbank, HSBC and J.P. Morgan also acted as joint active bookrunners.
