24th Mar 2006 14:55
Sainsbury(J) PLC24 March 2006 24 March 2006 J Sainsbury plc completes £2.07 billion refinancing Sainsbury's has today completed the refinancing transaction which was announcedon 24 February 2006. A total of £2.07 billion has been raised through the issueof two Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities (CMBS) by Eddystone Finance plcand Longstone Finance plc (1) (2) (3). The company has also completed thepurchase of all its outstanding unsecured bonds totalling £1.7 billion. At thesame time it has made a payment of £110 million into the company's pensionschemes, with the balance of the £350 million one-off contribution expected tobe paid in May 2006. Darren Shapland, chief financial officer said, "We are delighted to havesuccessfully completed the refinancing. This provides us with cost effectivelong-term finance by unlocking value from our property portfolio and at the sametime retains ownership of these valuable assets. This improves the long termfunding profile of the business and provides a flexible financing platform forthe future as well as underpinning the Making Sainsbury's Great Again plan as wecontinue to improve our offer to customers." Enquiries: Investor relations Media+44 (0) 20 7695 7162 +44 (0) 20 7695 6127 Lynda Ashton Pip Wood Notes (1) Eddystone Finance plc - 12-year floating-rate notes with a 7-year issuer call These notes have, via a secured loan structure, the benefit of security grantedover 75 freehold and long leasehold supermarkets with a market value ofapproximately £2.0 billion. Class Rating (S&P/Moody's) Principal (£m) Coupon A1A AAA/Aaa 71.0 3 mo Libor + 19bpsA1B (1) AAA/Aaa 350.0 3 mo Euribor + 19bpsA2 AAA/Aaa 421.0 3 mo Libor + 21bpsB AA/Aa2 140.0 3 mo Libor + 38bpsC A/A2 221.0 3 mo Libor + 58bps TOTAL 1,203.0 3 mo Libor + 29bps Note (1): The A1B tranche is Euro-denominated with a nominal value of €504.6million (2) Longstone Finance plc - 25-year fixed-rate notes These notes have, via a secured loan structure, the benefit of security grantedover 52 freehold and long leasehold supermarkets with a market value ofapproximately £1.55 billion. Class Rating (S&P/Moody's) Principal (£m) Coupon A AAA/Aaa 542.5 4.791%B AA/Aa2 46.5 4.774%C A/A2 279.0 4.896% TOTAL 868.0 4.824% (3) Eddystone Finance plc and Longstone Finance plc are specialpurpose vehicles and are not part of the J Sainsbury plc group. (4) Morgan Stanley & Co International Limited (Morgan Stanley)and UBS Limited (UBS) are acting as financial advisers to J Sainsbury plc and noone else for the purposes of the transaction. They will not be responsible toanyone other than J Sainsbury plc (whether or not a recipient of thisannouncement) for providing the protections offered to clients of Morgan Stanleyor UBS nor for providing advice in relation to the transaction. Any existingbondholder or prospective purchaser interested in buying the new securities isrecommended to seek its own financial advice. (5) This announcement is being distributed by J Sainsbury plconly to, and is directed only at, (a) persons who have professional experiencein matters relating to investments who fall within Article 19(1) of theFinancial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 and (b)persons to whom it may otherwise lawfully be communicated (together "relevantpersons"). Any investment or investment activity to which this announcementrelates is available only to and will be engaged only with, relevant persons.Any person who is not a relevant person should not act or rely on thisannouncement or any of its contents. The information and any opinions containedin this announcement do not constitute a public offer under any applicablelegislation or an offer to sell or solicitation or an offer to buy anysecurities or financial instruments. The information contained in thisannouncement is subject to, and must be read in conjunction with, theinformation contained in the full offer documents to be issued in relation tothe matters referred to in this announcement. (6) This announcement is not for publication or distribution,directly or indirectly, in or into the United States. This announcement is notan offer of securities for sale into the United States. The securities referredto herein may not be offered or sold in the United States unless they areregistered or exempt from registration pursuant to the US Securities Act of1933. There will be no public offer of these securities in the United States. (7) Certain statements made in this announcement are forwardlooking statements. Such statements are based on current expectations and aresubject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual resultsto differ materially from any expected future results in forward lookingstatements. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Sainsbury's