SK Telecom has issued $500 million worth of five-year offshore private loans at a coupon rate of 3.75 percent.
The ongoing US-China trade war has taken its toll on global financial market, pushing interest rates higher. Despite this grim backdrop, SK Telecom has managed to draw positive response from global investors and issued loans, thanks to its high credit rating, promising growth potential, and stable cash flow.
SK Telecom, a leading telecom operator in Korea, held financial road-shows across the world including the U.S., Europe, and Asia and received responses from some 60-global bond investors for the loan issuance.
SK Telecom said it achieved about 7-times larger loan subscription worth $3.3 billion than the company’s estimated bond issuance of $500 million was made during its loan subscription process.
The final interest rate was set at 22.5bp (1bp=0.01percent) lower than the initially proposed level. SK Telecom claims that the amount was the largest ever drawn by any South Korean companies this year during their offshore loan subscription processes.
The company will use loans to pay back its pre-existing loans. Diversifying the loan maturity structure is expected to improve the company’s financial structure.
