NWS Holdings raised HK$1.35 billion $173 million from the convertible bond market yesterday Monday via house bank Morgan Stanley. Proceeds are being used to re-pay debt at the company, which is the second most heavily indebted entity of the New World Group.
In a bid to bring down high leverage, the Cheng family, which owns New World, restructured the group's entire business operations towards the end of 2002 and has recently adopted a variety of debt relieving measures. A convertible by NWS makes a lot of sense in the context of a share price that has rocketed over 350% in the space of a year.
Terms for the deal comprise...
