BBD.B DOUBLES OFFERING ON MARKET DEMAND
Bombardier doubles debt offering on market demand
2 hours ago by Thomson Reuters
* Company has won several airplane orders recently
* Bombardier is world's No. 3 commercial plane maker
* Company is developing new C-Series plane
Jan 10 (Reuters) - Bombardier Inc said on Thursday it had doubled the size of a debt offering to $2 billion because of strong market demand and investor confidence in the company's business plan.
This is a marked turnaround from two months ago when the company, which is the world's biggest train maker and No. 3 commercial plane manufacturer, pulled a $1 billion issue due to a lack of investor demand. That issue had come shortly after the company announced a delay in the first flight of its new C-Series plane.
PI Financial analyst Chris Murray said Bombardier's announcement of several large airplane orders in the past couple of months had improved the outlook for the Canadian company.
"We have seen some positive data points recently, and I think that has added comfort to investors on the debt side," Murray said.
Bombardier on Nov. 27 announced it had signed its largest business jet deal ever, a $7.8 billion order from Swiss charter operator VistaJet for up to 142 Global aircraft.
On Dec. 6, it announced that Delta Air Lines Inc had placed firm orders for 40 of its CRJ NextGen regional jets, with the option to buy another 30, in a deal valued at up to $3.29 billion.
Later in December it announced the firming up of a tentative order for 10 C-Series planes, and a tentative order for another 12.
Montreal-based Bombardier said the $2 billion would be used for "general corporate purposes". The development of the C-Series, a $3.4 billion project to build its biggest plane yet, has sucked up company cash.
The debt issue comprises $750 million amount of senior notes due 2016, which carry a coupon of 4.25 percent per annum, and $1.25 billion of notes due 2023, with a coupon of 6.125 percent.
The company's shares closed 2.3 percent higher at C$3.99 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Thursday.