wow。。。
Nortel Gets $1.49 Billion Cushion
Friday June 7, 9:21 AM EDT
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Cash-strapped Nortel Networks Corp. (NT) (NT) got a bit more breathing room on Friday, as the telecom equipment maker raised $1.49 billion in a stock and equity offering, nearly double what it had hoped to sell.
Nortel, whose sales and cash reserves have dwindled as phone companies clamp down on spending, said it was selling 550 common shares for $1.41 apiece to raise $775.5 million. That issue, which sources said was up from an original 150 million shares, will dilute Nortel stock by 17 percent.
The company, which lost $27.3 billion in 2001 and saw its credit rating cut to junk status, also raised $714 million from the sale of 25,000 equity units priced at $28,571, which are convertible into common stock in three years.
Those units carry a 7 percent dividend, which is collateralized by U.S. Treasury strips and which convert into Nortel shares at $1.69. Analysts had expected a dividend of 7 percent to 7.5 percent and a premium of 18 percent to 22 percent.
Nortel said it will bank a net $1.3 billion from the deal, after costs.
This marks Nortel's second trip to the convertible well in less than a year. It raised $1.8 billion in convertible senior notes with a 4.25 percent coupon and 32.3 percent premium last August.
News of plans for the latest offerings, which Nortel originally expected would raise $800 million, triggered massive losses for the stock, which shed close to one-third of its value since the financing was announced on Monday.
Short sellers helped drive the stock down to a 19-year low, in record trade on Thursday, with more than 200 million shares changing hands on the New York Stock Exchange.
A portfolio manager who asked not to be named speculated that hedge funds sold so many Nortel shares short that the company needed to issue more shares to cover the shorts.
Nortel said funds from the offerings, which are scheduled to close on June 12, will be used for general corporate purposes.
The cash helps buy time for Nortel, which is saddled with $4.8 billion in debt, until a recovery comes. Analysts suggest the market has not yet hit bottom, and forecasts for a rebound in spending are not expected until late 2003 or 2004.
Nortel's first quarter sales fell 49 percent to $2.91 billion from $5.75 billion in the same period of 2001. Sales of long-haul optic network gear fell 77 percent, enterprise network revenues tumbled 47 percent and wireless network sales were off 26 percent.
Analysts say the money is likely earmarked for negative cash flows from operations, restructuring costs, and any draws from vendor financing. The cash also ensures Nortel does not violate its banking covenants, which would bar it from drawing on credit lines.
"We believe that Nortel will be forced to raise at least $1.6 billion to have proper funding through 2003," said a recent UBS Warburg report. UBS Warburg expects Nortel to burn through $2.1 billion in cash in 2002 and $1.6 billion in 2003.