Freeport prices Senior Notes to finance Phelps acquisition
Thursday, March 15 2007 - 11:33 PM WIB
New Orleans-based miner Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX) announced on Thursday the pricing of senior unsecured notes as part of the US$17.5 billion of debt financing for the pending acquisition of Phelps Dodge.
The financing is comprised of $16 billion in funded debt, including $10 billion in senior secured term loans and $6 billion in senior unsecured notes.
In addition, FCX has a $1.5 billion senior secured revolving credit facility, which is expected to be undrawn at closing.
FCX will use the net proceeds from these offerings to fund a substantial portion of its acquisition of Phelps Dodge Corporation and to pay related fees and expenses.
FCX explores for, develops, mines and processes ore containing copper, gold and silver in Indonesia, and smelts and refines copper concentrates in Spain and Indonesia.(alex)