The company announced that collection of orders for subordinated Tier 2 notes maturing in 10 years and callable after 5 years a has been concluded. The subordinated notes are expected to be issued on 19 November 2019 in the aggregate amount of EUR 120m at interest rate of 3.650% p.a.
On 4 November the company announced that it has mandated UBS Investment bank who will together with NLB arrange issuance of its Tier 2 notes. NLB has held a series of fixed income investor meetings across Europe and a series of investor calls between 6 and 8 November 2019. On the base of this NLB has on 12 November opened book to institutional investors that was be closed on the same day after orders were filled. Subordinated notes will mature in November 2029 while they are callable by the issuer in November 2024. Slovenian investors had an allocation advantage. The investors to which note was offered are only eligible counterparties and professional clients. The nominal value of the subordinate Tier 2 notes amounts to EUR 120m. The bond will be listed on Luxembourg Stock Exchange, Euro MTF market and it will be governed by the German law. The settlement is expected to take place on 19 November 2019. The determined fixed rate of 3.650% p.a. will be applied on nominal amount and payable annually. Issue price will be equal to 100% of their nominal amount. On closing of transaction the rate will be reset to the sum of the reference rate, which amounts to 5 year Mid-swap rate and the margin in % p.a. that will be determined.
As a reminder, NLB in May 2019 issued EUR 45m of Tier2 Notes with the same maturity and fixed rate of 4.2%. Margin on this issuance has amounted to 4.159% p.a. To read more about other terms of this transaction please see our previous article on the following link. When we compare rates realized in two transactions, we can conclude that the financing costs have in the meantime decreased for 55 bp.
Transelectrica announced yesterday that it has signed contracts for the project of common interest in the amount of RON 357m (EUR 75m).
The Romanian national power grid company Transelectrica SA has informed its shareholders and investors about new contacts signed. It is project “Internal line between Cernavoda and Stalpu” that is financed from European funds under the “Europe Interconnection Mechanism”. This is the first project of common interest carried out by Transelectrica, which received European financing in sum of maximum EUR 27m under the “Connecting Europe Facility” mechanism. The signed project entails execution of contracts for 3 of the 4 project components – building of 400 kV double circuit overhead line Cernavoda – Stalpu (RON 287m), building the 400 kV substation Stalpu (RON 58.4m) and extending the 400 kV substation Cernavoda (RON 11.5m). The project will be executed in 24 months from the beginning of works.
The Cernavoda – Stalpu internal line is aimed at securing the cross section between the western Black Sea coast (eastern part of Romania) and the rest of the European system, while it will also contribute to improving the Romanian electricity transmission grid. Moreover, it will lead to greater interconnection capacity between Romania and Bulgaria and to integrating the wind output from Dobrogea region. The 400 kV substation Stalpu will be built and the 400 kV substations Cernavoda and Gura Ialomitei will be extended, which will allow connecting the new 160 km long transmission line.
United Group announced that it has agreed to acquire Bulgarian telecom Vivacom. According to media it will be for a consideration of EUR 1.2bn, which puts EV/EBITDA transaction multiple at 6.5x.
United Group is a Netherlands-headquartered independent telecom and media provider operating in South Eastern Europe. It is owned by international investment firm BC Partners. United Group has published last week that it has agreed the to acquire Bulgarian telecom Vivacom. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2020, after acquiring all needed regulatory approvals. According to media sources the consideration could reach EUR 1.2bn. The acquisition will be financed through a combination of new debt and cash on hand of United Group.
Vivacom provides mobile, fixed voice, fixed broadband services and pay-TV services on The Bulgarian market. The consolidated revenues of the company for 2018 have amounted to EUR 484.7m and adjusted EBITDA has reached EUR 184m. When we apply announced consideration to adjusted EBITDA of Vivacom we arrive at the EV/EBITDA transaction multiple of 6.5x.
As a reminder, United Group has in May 2019 acquired Croatian Tele 2 for an enterprise value of EUR 220m. You can read about it more on the following link.