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APN News begins marketing five-year bond sale

APN News&Media Ltd, owner of The New Zealand Herald, is selling up to $200 million of "APN Media Bonds" to diversify its funding sources and to pay down bank debt.APN Media (NZ), a wholly owned direct subsidiary of Wilson&Horton Ltd and

NZPA
Mon, 08 Nov 2010

APN News&Media Ltd, owner of The New Zealand Herald, is selling up to $200 million of "APN Media Bonds" to diversify its funding sources and to pay down bank debt.

APN Media (NZ), a wholly owned direct subsidiary of Wilson&Horton Ltd and a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of APN, is selling $150 million of bonds maturing on March 15, 2016, with an option to accept oversubscriptions of up to a further $50 million.

The offer, which opens next Monday and closes on December 10, is not underwritten. It will be priced on Friday. The bonds will trade on the NZDX market.

The bonds are unsecured, unsubordinated fixed-rate debt obligations which rank pari passu with APN's bank facilities. The bonds have a negative pledge prohibiting creation of security over assets other than certain permitted security interests.

APN chief executive Brendan Hopkins is fronting a roadshow for the bonds and will be in Wellington tomorrow.

The prospectus provides insights into APN's business strategy, including that the company is arranging its business more around audiences than products as boundaries between media products become blurred.

"Specifically APN has reorganised the senior executive group to establish a content strategy and integration role with a 'whole of group' responsibility. APN considers this change to be an important step in achieving its goal of becoming a more integrated media group and the leading multi media company in each of its local markets," the prospectus said.

The New Zealand Media division is increasingly pitching multiple platform campaigns to major advertisers.

APN News&Media's assets in this country include The New Zealand Herald, seven regional daily titles, magazines including the New Zealand Woman's Weekly and New Zealand Listener, and 50 percent of The Radio Network whose networks include NewstalkZB, Classic Hits and ZM.

The prospectus said that the advertising recovery in New Zealand has now extended to radio and outdoor.

The fourth quarter is traditionally APN's best trading period, although year-on-year growth may moderate as the company had an improved fourth quarter in 2009.

"Management remain confident, as outlined at the interim results announcement, that the second half will see a return to more traditional trading patterns and therefore a seasonally higher second half result," the prospectus says.

It also discloses details of the company's multi-option club facility, which provides the bulk of the group's bank finance. The facility can be reviewed if there is a change of control of APN. A change of control under the bank facilities triggers early redemption rights on the bonds.

ANZ National Bank Ltd is the organising participant and a joint lead manager for the offer of the bonds. Bank of New Zealand, Forsyth Barr Ltd and Goldman Sachs&Partners New Zealand Ltd are the other joint lead managers for the offer of bonds.

NZPA
Mon, 08 Nov 2010
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APN News begins marketing five-year bond sale
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