Mighty River Power today settled a NZ$100m wholesale bond issue.
ANZ was the sole lead manager on the bond issue, which attracted nine investors. The issue was split between seven and ten-year maturities, with a yield of 7.50% for the seven-year issue and a yield of 8.21% for the ten-year issue. The bond issue tapped an existing NZ$50m seven-year issue that Mighty River Power transacted last year. The deal was driven by specific investor demand for longer maturities.
Mighty River Power will use the funding for general corporate purposes, including paying down existing shorter-term facilities. The bond lengthens the company’s debt maturity profile, which is appropriate for an infrastructure business.
Standard & Poor’s have assigned a BBB+ credit rating to the bond issue. This is consistent with Mighty River Power’s long term corporate credit rating.
ANZ Head of Debt Capital Markets Dean Spicer said that the issue shows the emerging depth in New Zealand's wholesale debt market and the ongoing appetite for high quality utility issuers. It is the largest ‘BBB’ bond issue ANZ is aware of that has not been completed under retail documents.
ENDS