Eir CEO Richard Moat
Telecoms operator Eir has replaced a €350m bond facility it entered into upon examinership in 2013 with a new €500m facility it will have to pay back in 2022 at a much lower rate.
Eir took out the original bond of €350m in 2013 when it exited examinership at an interest rate of 9.25pc. The bond would have fallen due in 2020.
Today, the company revealed that it has negotiated a new bond facility worth €500m, which it will use to pay back original lenders the sum of €350m.
The new bond, which has an expiry date in 2022, with a new set of lenders, has a rate of 4.5pc.
Eir also negotiated a revolving credit facility of €150m, which a spokesperson for the company said will give the operator room to manoeuvre if it needs to invest in new projects or infrastructure.
Strategy execution
CEO Richard Moat said that the operator’s ability to negotiate a new bond facility reflected its solid execution of strategy over the last three years.
“The successful outcome of this transaction reflects market acknowledgement of our progress, and the significant appetite which exists to invest in our company,” Moat said.
Moat recently revealed that Eir will reach 1.7m premises in Ireland with high-speed broadband by the end of this year.
After that, the company will aim to get to 1.9m premises – 80pc of homes in Ireland – as soon as possible, including 100,000 homes in broadband-deprived areas with 1Gbps broadband by March 2017.
