Vedanta Resources plc (VED.L) announced the pricing of the offering of bonds in the aggregate principal amount of US$1.7 billion. The bonds are being offered and sold in two tranches, consisting of US$1.2 billion aggregate principal amount of 6% Bonds due January 2019 and US$500.0 million aggregate principal amount of 7.125% Bonds due May 2023.
The company expects that the offering will close on June 3, 2013, subject to customary closing conditions.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan, The Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered Bank are acting as Joint Global Coordinators, Joint Lead Managers and Joint Bookrunners and Deutsche Bank is acting as Joint Bookrunner.
The Bonds are expected, on the closing date, to be rated "Ba3" by Moody's, "BB" by S&P and "BB" by Fitch.
The company said it intends to use the proceeds of the offering to refinance a portion of its obligations under the its existing 2010 term loan facility (that was entered into to partly finance Vedanta's acquisition of a controlling stake in Cairn India), which will result in a cancellation of Vedanta's commitments under a bridge facility, and to pay related fees and expenses and for general corporate purposes.
The company noted that it intends to apply for the listing of the Bonds on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited or the "SGX-ST".
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