A US$400 million 10-year bond offered by the Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT) has been “significantly over-subscribed” the T&T Guardian has learned.
This according to a Oppenheimer & Co Inc to TSTT Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr Ronald Walcott dated yesterday.
The bond is expected to to consolidate all TSTT’s liabilities into a single facility.
“I want to congratulate you and the TSTT team for successfully completing this significant and complex transaction,” Tonelli’s letter stated.
“We kicked off the execution process with our official engagement on April 16, 2019 and initial meetings. There were a number of significant undertakings including finalising the Offer Memorandum, the Rating Agency presentations, the preparation of 2018/2019 as well as the 2019/2020 Q1 audit,” it stated.
“Once we officially announced the offering we began an intense and extensive roadshow over a ten-day period, which involved meetings, presentations, conference calls and Q&A with many of the largest institutional investors around the world,” the letter stated.
Tonelli said TSTT had to market the company, and this was not easy.
“You and your team did a great job of telling the TSTT story of restructuring and transformation. This was not an easy story to tell given some of the fundamentals and the company’s financial performance over the last three years, while it was executing its strategic plan,” the letter added.
“Additionally the challenges associated with the government’s outstanding debt to TSTT, the uncertainty of the 49 per cent minority shareholding of the company and the current leverage were offset by your Q1 performance, your team’s clarity of your strategic direction and your demonstrated knowledge of the business,” it stated.
Tonelli said the bond would be at a rate of 8.875 per cent.
“As a result, we are pleased to advise that the book was significantly over-subscribed. Additionally, we are pleased to have been able to price the bond at a yield of 8.875 per cent which is well within our initial estimates, given the ratings, and below the rate we projected in the financial model. Looking at the comparisons in the market, this rate is excellent and the team should feel justifiably proud of this accomplishment,” it stated.