FdR places EUR 550m worth of bonds

French SIIC Foncière des Régions (FdR) has announced the issue of EUR 550 mln worth of convertible bonds due on 1 January 2017.

This issue was priced with a 3.34% annual coupon and a par value of the bonds of EUR 85.86, reflecting a 20% conversion premium over the reference price of the FdR shares of EUR 71.54.

FdR's largest shareholder, Leonardo del Vecchio's Delfin group with 28.92%, subscribed to this issue for an amount of EUR 150 mln, which represents 27.27% of the total.

The company plans to use the net proceeds from the bond issue to diversify its funding sources and to extend its debt maturity profile.

The issue was lead-managed by BofA Merrill Lynch acting as global coordinator, joint lead manager and joint bookrunner, and by HSBC, Lazard-Natixis and UniCredit acting as joint lead managers and joint bookrunners.

The bonds will be admitted to trading on the NYSE Euronext in Paris on 24 May.