28 October 2011
BG Group issues £750 million 25-year sterling bonds
BG Group today announced the issue of £750 million of sterling-denominated bonds (approximately $1.2 billion). The 25-year bonds are due 4 November 2036 and pay a coupon of 5%.
The bonds, which have been issued by BG Energy Capital plc, a wholly owned subsidiary of BG Group plc, and are guaranteed by BG Energy Holdings Limited. They are expected to be rated A, A2 and A by Fitch, Moody’s and Standard & Poors respectively.
The settlement of the offering will occur on 4 November 2011, subject to customary settlement conditions.
The bond issue was managed by a group of banks comprising BNP Paribas, Mitsubishi UFJ Securities, Santander GBM, Standard Chartered Bank and The Royal Bank of Scotland.
BG Group Chief Financial Officer, Fabio Barbosa said: “We are very pleased with the positive response from investors in the bond issue today. The order book was substantially oversubscribed, demonstrating yet again the market’s confidence in BG Group – especially in the current changeable international economic climate.
“Today’s offering builds upon the equally successful $3 billion US bond issue we completed earlier this month. It also takes advantage of the current low interest rate environment to lock in very attractive long-term funding costs. These bond issues, combined with our existing committed facilities of $5.75 billion, provide an important part of the financing for our growth plans. The strong demand for our bonds clearly illustrates our good standing in the international debt markets and provides a strong endorsement from investors in our future growth strategy.”
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Notes to Editors:
BG Group plc (LSE: BG.L) is a world leader in natural gas, with a strategy focused on connecting competitively priced resources to specific, high-value markets. Active in more than 25 countries on five continents, BG Group has a broad portfolio of exploration and production, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and transmission and distribution business interests. It combines a deep understanding of gas markets with a proven track record in finding and commercialising reserves.
For further information visit: www.bg-group.com
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There are matters set out within this announcement that are forward-looking statements. Such statements are only predictions, and actual events or results may differ materially. For a discussion of important factors which could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements, refer to BG Group's Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2010. BG Group does not undertake any obligation to update publicly, or revise, forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent legally required.