Rates Round Up

University bond offer raises $15 mill in first week; Allied Farmers drops hint it will mop up rural lenders; Marac in good shape after Pyne Gould finishes capital raising; Sky TV resets interest rate on bond.

Tuesday, October 27th 2009, 5:20AM

The University of Canterbury's philanthropic bond issue has attracted more than $15 million in its first week. The university is looking to raise up to $100 million to help fund growth.

Vice-Chancellor Rod Carr says the bond’s "fair rate, flexible options and the University’s clear strategy are proving attractive to investors.”

Murray & Company and First NZ Capital, Joint Lead Managers of the issue, say they have accepted reservation requests from NZX firms in excess of $35 million. The University is planning on investing as much as $500 million in capital projects in the next 10 years.

Investors in the bond issue will be paid 7.25% for five years, with the rate then reset for a further five years, and be entitled to full repayment when the bonds reach maturity in 2019.

Allied Farmers drops hint it will mop up rural lenders
Allied Farmers dropped a hint it will look to mop up rural lenders for its finance unit using its position as a listed company on the NZX. The company said it is in discussions with a number of entities in the rural and finance sectors and it is keen to boost its market share in these areas.

The company separated its finance arm from its rural services business in July after Allied Nationwide Finance half-year pre-tax loss of $2.3 million dragged on the group's overall performance. The group posted a full-year loss of $33.3 million after it wrote down $35 million in the finance unit's value.

Marac in good shape after Pyne Gould finishes capital raising
Marac is looking to be in good spirits after its parent company Pyne Gould completed its capital raising and injected $267 million into the company.

The Christchurch-based company took on the undertaking as part of a reorgnisation of its balance sheet that saw the parent company take on $175 million of impaired loans from Marac's books.

Sky TV resets interest rate on bond
Sky TV has reset the interest rate on its $200 million unsecured unsubordinated bond to an annual 4.01%, payable semi-annually. The figure is equal to the reference rate of 3.36% plus the margin of 65% pa, and will next reset on October 16 2010.

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