Fonterra Plans Bond Offer
Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited announced today it is considering making an offer of senior unsecured bonds. The offer is expected to open in February/March 2010.
The issue will be for a maximum of NZD 250 million. Fonterra will mandate ANZ, part of ANZ National Bank Limited; BNZ; and Westpac Institutional Bank, a division of Westpac Banking Corporation, as Joint-Lead Managers.
No money is currently being sought and no applications for securities will be accepted or money received unless the investor has received a simplified disclosure prospectus.
Further details of the offer will be made available once a simplified disclosure prospectus is available prior to the offer launch.
Fonterra intends to use any money raised for general business purposes, including partial replacement of a €300 million Euro Medium Term Note (EMTN) maturing in April 2010.
The bond offer is distinct from the current offer for Fonterra’s farmer shareholders to buy additional shares in the Co-operative.
About Fonterra
Fonterra is a global leader in dairy nutrition – the preferred supplier of dairy ingredients to many of the world’s leading food companies. Fonterra is also a market leader with our own consumer dairy brands in Australia/New Zealand, Asia/Africa, Middle East and Latin America.
The farmer-owned New Zealand co-operative is the largest processor of milk in the world, producing more than two million tonnes of dairy ingredients, value added dairy ingredients, specialty ingredients and consumer products every year. Drawing on generations of dairy expertise, Fonterra is one of the largest investors in dairy based research and innovation in the world. Our 16,000 staff work across the dairy spectrum from advising farmers on sustainable farming and milk production, to ensuring we live up to exacting quality standards and delivering every day on our customer promise in more than 100 markets around the world.
