KEY POINTS:
New Zealand's Yellow Pages Group will be meeting investors next week before a bond sale worth up to $300 million, a market source says.
The issuer will be in Auckland on Monday, Dunedin and Christchurch on Tuesday and Wellington on Wednesday.
Initial pricing of the six-year subordinated bonds is about 11 per cent.
ABN Amro, Deutsche Securities, Forsyth Barr and Goldman Sachs JBWere are lead managers. Forsyth Barr is acting on behalf of Barclays Capital.
The size of the offer is expected to be redefined after the roadshows because of the volatility in world credit markets, the source said.
The issue, to be sold to retail and institutional investors, is expected to draw a majority of retail investors because of its popular name, the source said.
The bonds, to be issued by YPG Bond Finance, will be secured and carry a fixed rate until maturity on October 31, 2013. They will not be rated.
The money will be used to refinance a bridge facility set up to pay for the acquisition of the Yellow Pages by private equity firms.
The consortium, comprising CCMP Capital and Canadian pension fund Teachers' Private Capital, bought the Yellow Pages from Telecom in March for $2.2 billion.
- Observer
