Bharti Airtel International pre-pays over USD 995 mn debt via recent tender offer

Bharti Airtel International's (Netherlands) parent Airtel Africa Ltd, is a UK incorporated subsidiary of Bharti Airtel Limited.

New Delhi: Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands), a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, Wednesday said it has pre-paid over USD 995 million debt as part of a recently-concluded cash purchase of its bonds.

"Pursuant to the settlement of the tender offer, USD 995,085,000 in principal amount of the Notes were purchased and redeemed by the company on November 27, 2018 and cancelled pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Notes. USD 504,915,000 in principal amount of the Notes remain outstanding," said a filing by Bharti Airtel.

Earlier this month, ?Bharti Airtel had announced it will pre-pay USD 1.5 billion debt with its subsidiary Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands), using the proceeds it got from six global entities investing in its Africa unit. Accordingly, Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) B V commenced cash purchase of USD 1.5 billion, 5.125 percent Guaranteed Senior Notes which were due in 2023.

"Bharti Airtel International...Today announced the settlement of its previously announced tender offer to purchase for cash (the "Tender Offer") any and all of its outstanding US$1,500,000,000 5.125 percent Guaranteed Senior Notes due 2023," it said.

It added that the "payment of the consideration plus accrued interest for all Notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) and accepted for purchase by the company has been made on November 27, 2018."

Bharti Airtel International's (Netherlands) parent Airtel Africa Ltd, a UK incorporated subsidiary of Bharti Airtel Limited, recently made a successful primary equity issuance of USD 1.25 billion to six leading global investors, including Warburg Pincus, Temasek, Singtel, SoftBank Group and others.

The company had said it would utilise the proceeds of the equity issuance and the cash available to it to reduce its existing debt by offering to purchase 'any and all' of the Notes pursuant to the tender offer.