Imperial Tobacco Sells $2.55 Billion of Bonds in Pounds, Euros

Source from:  Bloomberg 06/18/2009

Imperial Tobacco Group Plc, Europe's second-largest cigarette maker, raised $2.55 billion from sales of bonds denominated in pounds and euros. The maker of Gauloises and West cigarettes sold 500 million pounds ($815 million) of 10-year notes at a yield of 400 basis points more than U.K. government bonds, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Bristol, England-based company hired Barclays Capital, Commerzbank AG, Morgan Stanley and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc to organize the pound bonds. Imperial Tobacco also issued 1.25 billion euros ($1.73 billion) of three-year notes at a spread of 270 basis points over the benchmark swap rate. The euro sale was managed by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA, Calyon, HSBC Holdings Plc, RBS and UniCredit SpA. The dual-currency fundraising echoes the company's sales in February when it issued 1.5 billion euros and 1 billion pounds of bonds on the same day, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Imperial Tobacco's bonds are being sold through Imperial Tobacco Finance Plc. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point. Enditem