Telefonica has announced the issue of a total of USD 3.5 billion in notes in what is its first attempt to raise debt in the US market since before the financial crisis of 2008. In a statement to Spanish market regulator CNMV, Telefonica said the issue under its US Debt Registered Programme was split into two tranches. The first tranche, amounting to USD 1.5 billion, is due on 08 March 2027, with a coupon of 4.103 percent, with the second tranche, amounting to USD 2 billion, is due on 08 March 2047, with a coupon of 5.213 percent. No Spanish company has managed to issue debt in the US market since 2013, said business daily Expansion, adding that Citi, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Mizuho Securities, JPMorgan and HSBC helped Telefonica with the transaction.
In January Telefonica secured EUR 1.75 billion in long-term funding, at the time the largest transaction in Euros by a European company since the US elections. The company last month sold up to 40 percent of its infrastructure subsidiary Telxius to private equity firm KKR for EUR 1.275 billion in a bid to cut a debt level that stands at around EUR 50 billion.
