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American Tower (AMT) to Raise $1.7B Through Notes Offering

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American Tower Corporation (AMT - Free Report) has priced a public offering of three series of senior unsecured notes, aggregating $1.8 billion in principal amount. The net proceeds of the offering are estimated to be $1,765.1 million, after deducting underwriting discounts and offering expenses.

The company priced senior unsecured notes maturing in 2026, 2031 and 2051, with aggregate principal amounts of $600 million, $700 million and $500 million, respectively.

The 2026 notes carry an annual interest rate of 1.45% and are priced at 99.481% of the face value, while the 2031 notes, with an interest rate of 2.300% per year, have been priced at 99.444% of their face value.

The 2051 notes are being issued at 97.670% of the face value. The company will consolidate the recently issued 2051 obligation with the outstanding $550 million, 2.950% senior unsecured notes that were issued on Nov 20, 2020, to form a single series, making it fully fungible.

American Tower plans to use the net proceeds to pay down the existing outstanding balance under its $1-billion unsecured term loan that was amended and restated in December 2019 and for general corporate needs.

The company’s efforts to strengthen its near-term liquidity and tap the debt market amid the current low interest-rate environment are strategic fits. American Tower maintains a strong liquidity position. Its total liquidity was $4.7 billion. This comprised $1.9 billion in cash and cash equivalents, and the availability of $2.8 billion under its revolving credit facilities (net of any outstanding letters of credit).

In addition, with a weighted average remaining term for debt of 6.4 years, it has decent financial flexibility. Over the past few quarters, the company’s times-interest-earned ratio has been improving, suggesting it is at a lower risk of meeting its debt costs.

As of the second-quarter end, it enjoyed investment-grade credit ratings of BBB-, BBB+ and Baa3 as well as a stable outlook from Standard & Poor’s, Fitch, and Moody’s, respectively. This has likely enabled the company to access the debt markets at attractive rates.

However, the notes offering increases the company’s long-term debt.

Shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have rallied 26.9% over the past six months compared with the industry’s growth of 15.2%.You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

 

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Recently, a number of finance companies have been securing funds through debt and equity issuance.

World Acceptance Corporation (WRLD - Free Report) priced a $300-million aggregate principal amount of senior notes maturing in 2026.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (BXMT - Free Report) started a private offering of $400 million in aggregate principal amount of its senior secured notes due 2027.

Safehold Inc. (SAFE - Free Report) upsized and priced a public offering of shares of its common stock from 2,000,000 to 2,200,000 at a public offering price of $76 per share for total gross proceeds of $167.2 million.

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