Cell C Is Said to Sell $464 Million of Bonds Amid Reorganization

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Cell C Pty Ltd. plans to raise as much as $464 million from the sale of two bonds as part of the South African mobile-phone company’s recapitalization that will enable Blue Label Telecoms Ltd. to buy a stake, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The country’s third-largest wireless carrier will sell $184 million of three-year senior secured bonds and $280 million of five-year securities, according to the people, who asked not to be identified as the plans aren’t public. Both notes will pay a coupon of 8.625 percent, according to the people.

Cell C spokespeople didn’t immediately respond to emails requesting comment.

The bonds will be used to repay Cell C’s existing 400 million-euro ($465 million) debt due to mature in July 2018, the people said. That will enable Dubai-based parent company Oger Telecom Ltd., which is owed most of the outstanding debt though affiliates, to exit the company and ease the completion of the reorganization that will see Johannesburg-based Blue Label take a stake, according to the people.

The planned bond issues are expected to help the wireless carrier complete the transaction with Blue Label almost two years after talks began. The agreement to sell a 45 percent stake for 5.5 billion rand ($421 million) will initially reduce Cell C’s debt by 73 percent without having to re-apply for an operating licence, people familiar with the matter said last month.