FRANKFURT, Aug 13 (Reuters) - German auto parts supplier Continental AG plans to issue a bond in September with a volume of less than 1 billion euros ($1.28 billion) to help refinance its debt pile, two people who declined to be identified told Reuters.
'Continental plans to issue another high yield bond in September, whose volume might be equal to the July issue,' said one of the two sources on Friday. The bond will have a volume of less than a billion euros, said the other source.
In July, the firm raised 750 million euros in the high-yield market, which helped spread the maturity profile of its current debt, virtually all of which is due in 2012.
The two people, one from within Continental and one from one of Continental's banks, declined to be named because the plans to issue the bond have not yet been publicised. Continental declined to comment.
Continental wants to place bonds with a volume of as much as 4 billion euros in total, Continental Chief Financial Officer Wolfgang Schaefer has said in the past. Continental's net debt stood at 8.23 billion euros -- or 1.4 times its equity -- at the end of March.
Given the attractive coupons, investors expect strong demand for securities like the Continental bond.
This week saw record global high-yield issuance of $14.3 billion from 26 issuers, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Continental also hopes to boost confidence in its creditworthiness among its 50-odd syndicated lenders.
Rated 'B' with a stable outlook by Standard & Poor's, Continental plans to merge with also heavily indebted parent Schaeffler no earlier than next year.
For its July bond, Continental mandated Citigroup and the Royal Bank of Scotland to lead a bank consortium that further included Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank , ING, Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg and UniCredit.
(Reporting by Arno Schuetze and Philipp Halstrick in Frankfurt and Jan Schwartz in Hamburg; additional reporting by Natalie Harrison) ($1=.7813 Euro) Keywords: CONTINENTAL/BOND (Arno.Schuetze@thomsonreuters.com; +49 69 7565 1197; Reuters Messaging: Arno.Schuetze.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
'Continental plans to issue another high yield bond in September, whose volume might be equal to the July issue,' said one of the two sources on Friday. The bond will have a volume of less than a billion euros, said the other source.
In July, the firm raised 750 million euros in the high-yield market, which helped spread the maturity profile of its current debt, virtually all of which is due in 2012.
The two people, one from within Continental and one from one of Continental's banks, declined to be named because the plans to issue the bond have not yet been publicised. Continental declined to comment.
Continental wants to place bonds with a volume of as much as 4 billion euros in total, Continental Chief Financial Officer Wolfgang Schaefer has said in the past. Continental's net debt stood at 8.23 billion euros -- or 1.4 times its equity -- at the end of March.
Given the attractive coupons, investors expect strong demand for securities like the Continental bond.
This week saw record global high-yield issuance of $14.3 billion from 26 issuers, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Continental also hopes to boost confidence in its creditworthiness among its 50-odd syndicated lenders.
Rated 'B' with a stable outlook by Standard & Poor's, Continental plans to merge with also heavily indebted parent Schaeffler no earlier than next year.
For its July bond, Continental mandated Citigroup and the Royal Bank of Scotland to lead a bank consortium that further included Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank , ING, Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg and UniCredit.
(Reporting by Arno Schuetze and Philipp Halstrick in Frankfurt and Jan Schwartz in Hamburg; additional reporting by Natalie Harrison) ($1=.7813 Euro) Keywords: CONTINENTAL/BOND (Arno.Schuetze@thomsonreuters.com; +49 69 7565 1197; Reuters Messaging: Arno.Schuetze.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
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