Sky TV mulls $100 mln retail bond offer

Sky TV mulls $100 mln retail bond offer

By Paul McBeth

Feb. 18 (BusinessDesk) - Sky Network Television, the country’s dominant pay-TV operator, is mulling a retail bond offer to raise up to $100 million.

The Auckland-based company is seeking preliminary indications of interest on what will probably be a seven-year unsecured, unsubordinated fixed rate bond, it said in a statement. Sky TV expects to release full details of the offer in the coming two weeks.

ANZ Bank New Zealand has been appointed arranger, organising participant and joint lead manager, and Bank of New Zealand and Westpac Banking Corp are also joint lead managers.

Sky TV has $200 million in 10-year bonds listed on the New Zealand stock exchange paying annual interest of 3.62 percent, which mature in October 2016. The notes last traded at $97.55 per $100.

At last October’s annual meeting, Sky TV said it was anticipating increased capital expenditure of between $100 million and $120 million in the 2014 financial year, and is developing a host of new products aimed at providing content over tablet and mobile devices.

The company is expected to report its first-half result next Monday, and First NZ Capital anticipates it will lift earnings 9 percent to $74.1 million.

Earlier this month Sky TV ended a decade-long resale partnership with Telecom Corp, which has dipped its toes into other content arrangements including a distribution deal with web-based broadcaster Coliseum Sports Media to play the English Premier League football.

The shares were unchanged at $5.75 at today’s open, and have slipped 1.5 percent this year.

(BusinessDesk)

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