SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.: Debt Refinancing of Highway 407
Completed With New Junior Bond Issue
MONTREAL, QUEBEC--JULY 20, 2000-- 407 International Inc., the company owned by the
consortium comprising Spanish company Cintra Concesiones de
Infraestructuras de Transporte, SNC-Lavalin and Capital d'Amerique
CDPQ, which operates and manages Highway 407 north of Toronto,
today announced that it has agreed to issue $165 million in Junior
Bonds bearing an interest rate of 7.0 % at first maturity in 10
years. With this latest bond issue, the company will have
completed entirely its debt refinancing through the successful
issue of $3.37 billion in bonds, making it the largest corporate
debt program ever transacted in Canada in one year's time.
The Series 00-B1 is due July 26, 2010, extendible to July 26,
2040, at an increased annual rate of 7.125 %, to an underwriting
group consisting of BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. and CIBC World Markets
Inc. and TD Securities Inc. Net proceeds of approximately $149.5
million, after paying the costs of issuance and funding the Debt
Service Reserve Account, will be used to fully repay bank
indebtedness which was incurred pursuant to a Junior Term Credit
Facility and to fund the reserve account required in connection
with the Bonds.
407 International Inc.'s second quarter results of 2000 showed an
increase in traffic volume of 15 per cent over the first six
months of 1999. Highway 407 is the world's first all-electronic
open access toll highway which runs 69 kilometres east-west in the
Greater Toronto area. The consortium acquired the shares of 407
ETR Concession Company Limited from the Government of Ontario on
May 5, 1999.
SNC-Lavalin Group is one of the leading engineering and
construction firms in the world, and a key player in the ownership
and management of infrastructure. The group and its companies
have offices across Canada and in 30 other countries, and are
currently working in some 100 countries. The company is listed on
the Toronto Stock Exchange (symbol: SNC). |
