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Technology Stocks : Vodafone (VOD) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MrGreenJeans who wrote (54)	4/19/1999 2:06:00 PM
From: David Wiggins	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 109

Vodafone Concludes $10.5 Billion Loan to Buy AirTouch Bloomberg News April 19, 1999, 3:42 a.m. PT London, April 19 (Bloomberg) -- Vodafone Group Plc, which will become the world's largest wireless phone company when it buys AirTouch Communications Inc., concluded a $10.5 billion loan to help pay for the acquisition. The company earlier announced it would seek as much as $14 billion. It reduced the size of the borrowing after the U.S. Inland Revenue Service ruled that U.S. holders of AirTouch common stock will not have to pay tax on Vodafone shares they receive as part of the acquisition, thus reducing the cost of the takeover. Newbury, England-based Vodafone agreed on Jan. 16 to pay 0.5 American depositary receipt and $9 in cash for each share of AirTouch, the No. 1 U.S. wireless company. The cash portion has been confirmed at $5.5 billion. Vodafone will also take on about $2.89 billion of AirTouch debt. The company intends to refinance a ''substantial'' part of the loan with bonds and commercial paper and underwriters will ''more than likely be picked from the arrangers and co-arrangers of the loan,'' said Vodafone group Treasurer Gerry Bacon. Vodafone selected 11 banks to underwrite and arrange the borrowing. BankAmerica Corp., Barclays Bank Plc, Citigroup Inc. and Goldman, Sachs Inc. are in charge of selling the loan to other lenders. National Westminster Bank Plc is facility agent. Other arrangers include Banque Nationale de Paris, Deutsche Bank AG, HSBC Holdings Plc, ING Groep NV, National Australia Bank and Westdeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale. More banks will be asked to join the group of arrangers in a syndication later. The borrowing is split into a $4 billion revolving loan and a $3 billion term loan. Both must be repaid within 364 days, although Vodafone has the option to extend these for a further year. A $3.5 billion revolving loan is available for five years. Interest ranges from 60 basis points to 70 basis points over the London interbank offered rate, which for three-month U.S. dollar funds is 5 percent. Vodafone can borrow in U.S. dollars, sterling or euros. The exact rate depends on the credit rating of the combined group, how much money is used form the loan and the maturity of the borrowing.