JSC Bank of Georgia issues US$150 million 7.75% Notes due 2017
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JSC Bank of Georgia issues U.S.$150 million 7.75% Notes due 2017 (consolidated and forming a single series with the U.S.$250 million 7.75% Notes due 2017 issued on 5 July 2012)
Bank of Georgia Holdings plc (‘BGH’) (LSE: BGEO LN), the holding company of JSC Bank of Georgia (the “Bank”), Georgia’s leading bank, announced today that the Bank has completed the issuance of its US$150 million 7.75% notes due 2017 (the “Further Notes”) (consolidated and forming a single series with the U.S.$250 million 7.75% notes due 2017 issued on 5 July 2012 (the “Existing Notes” and, together with the Further Notes, the “Notes”)). The Regulation S / Rule 144A senior unsecured Further Notes carry a 7.75% coupon rate per annum, paid semi-annually, and were issued and sold at closing at a price of 105.249% of their principal amount on 6 November 2013. J.P. Morgan Securities plc and Merrill Lynch International acted as Joint Lead Managers for the Further Notes. Dechert LLP and Baker & McKenzie LLP acted as legal advisors to the Joint Lead Managers and the Bank, respectively. The Notes are rated BB- (Fitch) / Ba3 (Moody’s) / BB- (Standard & Poor’s). The Notes are listed on the Official List of the UK Listing Authority and admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange’s Regulated Market.
“In continuation of our ongoing active liability management efforts, we are very pleased to have succesfully completed this bond issue, with initial demand more than three times the offer size and investor interest from over 80 institutional investors from the US, the UK, Singapore, Switzerland, Austria and other European countries. The net proceeds will help us to further optimise our cost of funding and among other things will be used to provide financing for our general working capital needs”, commented Irakli Gilauri, Chief Executive Officer.
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The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “US Securities Act”), or with any securities regulatory authority of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to US persons (as such term is defined in Regulation S under the Securities Act) except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the US Securities Act.The issuer of the securities has not registered, and does not intend to register, any portion of the offering in the United States, and does not intend to conduct a public offering of securities in the United States.
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