French-based group Saint-Gobain SA raised £600M in a GBP-denominated bond issue, the company said 3/11/06. The issue was divided in 2 tranches of £300M each. The first tranche has a 10-year maturity period & carries an annual coupon of 5.625% while the second tranche has an 18-year maturity period & carries an annual coupon of 5.625% a year as well.The dual tranche issue was well received by investors & demand totalled £2.8BN, SG said. The company allocated 44% of its 10-year bond tranche & 46% of its 18-year bond tranche to asset managers. Various insurance companies, pension funds & banks received the larger part of the rest. Barclays Capital, HSBC Bank & The Royal Bank of Scotland were lead managers for the bond issue. SG will use the proceeds from the issue to refinance part of its debt, as well as to extend the company's average debt maturity. SG's long-term senior debt is rated BBB+ by the International credit rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) & Baa1 by Moody's credit rating agency.
