Costa Rica's Grupo M Revives
Dollar-Denominated Bond Offering
By Guillermo Parra-Bernal
(Bloomberg)
Grupo M Holding SA, Costa Rica's
largest consumer electronics
retailer, revived plans to sell
dollar-denominated debt to fund
expansion and repay debt,
according to a person familiar
with the offering.
Grupo M will offer senior,
unsecured notes that mature in
2018, said the person, who
declined to be identified
because terms aren't set. Grupo
M may opt to redeem the
securities after 2013, the
person said.
Merrill Lynch & Co. will handle
the sale. The notes will be
offered to U.S., European and
Asian investors beginning
tomorrow and through Jan. 23.
Moody's Investors Service is
expected to give the securities
a Ba3 rating, three levels below
investment grade, and Standard &
Poor's may rank them an
equivalent BB-, the person said.
Grupo M plans to use some of the
proceeds from its first dollar
bond sale to repay $30 million
of senior secured interim notes
issued in November and other
obligations, the person said.
The rest will be used for
capital expenditures and general
corporate purposes, the person
said.
The company, based in Alajuela,
Costa Rica, had revenue of $280
million in 2006 and runs
operations in Nicaragua,
Honduras, Guatemala and El
Salvador.
Grupo M had suspended the
offering in November, when some
of the world's biggest banks,
citing growing losses related to
the U.S. mortgage debt market,
pared purchases and sales of
bonds and stocks and restricted
lending.
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