CenturyTel Prices Debt Securities.Business Editors MONROE, La.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 20, 2002 CenturyTel, Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :CTL See control key. 1. CTL - Checkout Test language. 2. CTL - Compiler Target Language. 3. CTL - Computational Tree Logic ) announced today that it has priced $500 million of 10-year, unsecured senior notes and $150 million of 30-year, unsecured convertible senior debentures. The Company also granted the initial purchasers an option to acquire up to an additional $15 million principal amount of convertible debentures to cover over-allotments. The securities will be privately placed with qualified institutional buyers under Rule 144A Rule 144A A Securities & Exchange Commission rule modifying a two-year holding period requirement on privately placed securities to permit qualified institutional buyers to trade these positions among themselves. . The senior notes were priced at $99.379 with a coupon of 7.875%, or an effective yield to maturity of 7.967%. The debentures were priced with a coupon of 4.75% and are convertible into the Company's common stock at $40.45, upon the occurrence of certain events. This conversion price represents a premium of 45% based on today's closing price of $27.90 for CenturyTel common stock on the New York Stock Exchange New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) World's largest marketplace for securities. The exchange began as an informal meeting of 24 men in 1792 on what is now Wall Street in New York City. . These debentures are noncallable Noncallable Securities that cannot be called by the issuer prior to maturity. Notes: Noncallable securities include preferred stocks and bonds. These securities usually offer lower yields to investors due to their reduced risk. for four years and may be put to the Company by the holders in years four, eight and fifteen. These securities have been rated BBB BBB A medium grade assigned to a debt obligation by a rating agency to indicate an adequate ability to pay interest and repay principal. However, adverse developments are more likely to impair this ability than would be the case for bonds rated A and above. + by Standard & Poors and Baa2 by Moody's, both with a stable outlook. The Company expects to use the net proceeds Net Proceeds The amount received after all costs are deducted from the sale of a piece of property or security. Notes: In the case of an investor selling a security, net proceeds represent the proceeds from the sale minus any trading costs (i.e. commissions). of these private placements to satisfy certain fixed and contingent commitments arising during the remainder of 2002, or for other general corporate purposes. The notes and debentures have not been and, at the time of the placement, will not be registered under the Securities Act of 1933, or any state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. absent registration under, or an applicable exemption from, the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 and applicable state securities laws. This release is issued pursuant to Rule 135(c) of the Securities Act of 1933, and does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the notes or debentures. CenturyTel, Inc. provides communications services including local exchange, long distance, Internet access and data services to customers in 22 states. The Company, headquartered in Monroe, Louisiana, is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CTL. CenturyTel is the 8th largest local exchange telephone company, based on access lines, in the United States. This release includes forward-looking statements that are based upon current expectations only, and are subject to a number of uncertainties that are beyond the control of CenturyTel, including its ability to consummate its proposed transactions on the terms described above. Additional uncertainties related to the Company's business are described in greater detail in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K Form 10-K A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information. Form 10-K See 10-K. for the year ended December 31, 2001. The information in this release is as of August 20, 2002. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any of this information as a result of new information, future events or developments, or otherwise. |
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